Anxiety Sensitivity, Experiential Avoidance, and Mindfulness Among Younger and Older Adults: Age Differences in Risk Factors for Anxiety Symptoms.

PubMed

Mahoney, Colin T; Segal, Daniel L; Coolidge, Frederick L

2015-10-01

In this cross-sectional study, we examined age-related differences in anxiety sensitivity (AS), experiential avoidance (EA), and mindfulness among younger adult students (N=426; M age=20.1 years) and community-dwelling older adults (N=85; M age=71.8 years). Participants anonymously completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Geriatric Anxiety Scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Independent t tests indicated that younger adults reported significantly higher levels of AS and EA, whereas older adults reported significantly higher levels of trait mindfulness. Correlational analyses demonstrated that AS and EA were significantly associated with each other and with anxiety-related symptoms. However, trait mindfulness was significantly inversely related to AS, EA, and to trait and state anxiety. To date, these three factors have yet to be examined simultaneously within the context of age differences, and the present study illuminates these differences as well as their relationships. AS, EA, and low mindfulness appear to be significant correlates for anxiety-related symptoms in younger and older adults. © The Author(s) 2015.

Lexical influences on competing speech perception in younger, middle-aged, and older adults

PubMed Central

Helfer, Karen S.; Jesse, Alexandra

2015-01-01

The influence of lexical characteristics of words in to-be-attended and to-be-ignored speech streams was examined in a competing speech task. Older, middle-aged, and younger adults heard pairs of low-cloze probability sentences in which the frequency or neighborhood density of words was manipulated in either the target speech stream or the masking speech stream. All participants also completed a battery of cognitive measures. As expected, for all groups, target words that occur frequently or that are from sparse lexical neighborhoods were easier to recognize than words that are infrequent or from dense neighborhoods. Compared to other groups, these neighborhood density effects were largest for older adults; the frequency effect was largest for middle-aged adults. Lexical characteristics of words in the to-be-ignored speech stream also affected recognition of to-be-attended words, but only when overall performance was relatively good (that is, when younger participants listened to the speech streams at a more advantageous signal-to-noise ratio). For these listeners, to-be-ignored masker words from sparse neighborhoods interfered with recognition of target speech more than masker words from dense neighborhoods. Amount of hearing loss and cognitive abilities relating to attentional control modulated overall performance as well as the strength of lexical influences. PMID:26233036

Older Adults Make Less Advantageous Decisions than Younger Adults: Cognitive and Psychological Correlates

PubMed Central

Fein, George; McGillivray, Shannon; Finn, Peter

2007-01-01

This study tested the hypotheses that older adults make less advantageous decisions than younger adults on the Iowa gambling task (IGT). Less advantageous decisions, as measured by the IGT, are characterized by choices that favor larger versus smaller immediate rewards, even though such choices may result in long-term negative consequences. The IGT, and measures of neuropsychological function, personality, and psychopathology were administered to 164 healthy adults 18–85 years of age. Older adults performed less advantageously on the IGT compared with younger adults. Additionally, a greater number of older adult’s IGT performances were classified as ‘impaired’ when compared to younger adults. Less advantageous decisions were associated with obsessive symptoms in older adults and with antisocial symptoms in younger adults. Performance on the IGT was positively associated with auditory working memory and psychomotor function in young adults, and in immediate memory in older adults. PMID:17445297

Diffusion of Technology: Frequency of Use for Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Olson, Katherine E.; O’Brien, Marita A.; Rogers, Wendy A.; Charness, Neil

2012-01-01

Objectives When we think of technology-savvy consumers, older adults are typically not the first persons that come to mind. The common misconception is that older adults do not want to use or cannot use technology. But for an increasing number of older adults, this is not true (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2003). Older adults do use technologies similar to their younger counterparts, but perhaps at different usage rates. Previous research has identified that there may be subgroups of older adults, “Silver Surfers”, whose adoption patterns mimic younger adults (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2003). Much of the previous research on age-related differences in technology usage has only investigated usage broadly -- from a “used” or “not used” standpoint. The present study investigated age-related differences in overall usage of technologies, as well as frequency of technology usage (i.e., never, occasional, or frequent). Methods The data were gathered through a questionnaire from younger adults (N=430) and older adults (N=251) in three geographically separate and ethnically diverse areas of the United States. Results We found that younger adults use a greater breadth of technologies than older adults. However, age-related differences in usage and the frequency of use depend on the technology domain. Conclusion This paper presents technology usage and frequency data to highlight age-related differences and similarities. The results provide insights into older and younger adults’ technology-use patterns, which in turn provide a basis for expectations about knowledge differences. Designers and trainers can benefit from understanding experience and knowledge differences. PMID:22685360

Older and younger adults differently judge the similarity between negative affect terms.

PubMed

Ready, Rebecca E; Santorelli, Gennarina D; Mather, Molly A

2018-01-02

Theoretical models of aging suggest changes across the adult lifespan in the capacity to differentiate emotions. Greater emotion differentiation is associated with advantages in terms of emotion regulation and emotion resiliency. This study utilized a novel method that directly measures judgments of affect differentiation and does not confound affective experience with knowledge about affect terms. Theoretical predictions that older adults would distinguish more between affect terms than younger persons were tested. Older (n = 27; aged 60-92) and younger (n = 56; aged 18-32) adults rated the difference versus similarity of 16 affect terms from the Kessler and Staudinger ( 2009 ) scales; each of the 16 items was paired with every other item for a total of 120 ratings. Participants provided self-reports of trait emotions, alexithymia, and depressive symptoms. Older adults significantly differentiated more between low arousal and high arousal negative affect (NA) items than younger persons. Depressive symptoms were associated with similarity ratings across and within valence and arousal. Findings offer partial support for theoretical predictions that older adults differentiate more between affect terms than younger persons. To the extent that differentiating between negative affects can aid in emotion regulation, older adults may have an advantage over younger persons. Future research should investigate mechanisms that underlie age group differences in emotion differentiation.

The effects of emotion on younger and older adults' monitoring of learning.

PubMed

Tauber, Sarah K; Dunlosky, John; Urry, Heather L; Opitz, Philipp C

2017-09-01

Age-related differences in memory monitoring appear when people learn emotional words. Namely, younger adults' judgments of learning (JOLs) are higher for positive than neutral words, whereas older adults' JOLs do not discriminate between positive versus neutral words. In two experiments, we evaluated whether this age-related difference extends to learning positive versus neutral pictures. We also evaluated the contribution of two dimensions of emotion that may impact younger and older adults' JOLs: valence and arousal. Younger and older adults studied pictures that were positive or neutral and either high or low in arousal. Participants made immediate JOLs and completed memory tests. In both experiments, the magnitude of older adults' JOLs was influenced by emotion, and both younger and older adults demonstrated an emotional salience effect on JOLs. As important, the magnitude of participants' JOLs was influenced by valence, and not arousal. Emotional salience effects were also evident on participants' free recall, and older adults recalled as many pictures as did younger adults. Taken together, these data suggest that older adults do not have a monitoring deficit when learning positive (vs. neutral) pictures and that emotional salience effects on younger and older adults' JOLs are produced more by valence than by arousal.

Atomoxetine Treatment for ADHD: Younger Adults Compared with Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durell, Todd; Adler, Lenard; Wilens, Timothy; Paczkowski, Martin; Schuh, Kory

2010-01-01

Objective: Atomoxetine is a nonstimulant medication for treating child, adolescent, and adult ADHD. This meta-analysis compared the effects in younger and older adults. Method: A post hoc analysis was conducted using data from two double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials. Data from patients aged 18-25 years were compared with data from…

Walking through doorways causes forgetting: Younger and older adults.

PubMed

Radvansky, Gabriel A; Pettijohn, Kyle A; Kim, Joonsung

2015-06-01

Previous research on event cognition has found that walking through doorways can cause forgetting. The explanation for this finding is that there is a competition between event models, producing interference, and depressing performance. The current study explored the degree to which this might be affected by the natural aging process. This is of interest because there is some evidence that older adults have trouble coordinating sources of interference, which is what is thought to underlie this effect. This would suggest that older adults should do worse on this task. Alternatively, there is also evidence that older adults are typically not disrupted at the event level of processing per se. This would suggest that older adults should perform similarly to younger adults on this task. In the study reported here, younger and older participants navigated through a virtual environment, and memory was tested with probes either before or after a shift and for objects that were associated with the participant (i.e., just picked up). In general, both younger and older adults had memory disrupted after walking through a doorway. Importantly, the magnitude of this disruption was similar in the 2 age groups. This is consistent with the idea that processing at the event level is relatively unaffected by the natural aging process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Memory-guided force control in healthy younger and older adults.

PubMed

Neely, Kristina A; Samimy, Shaadee; Blouch, Samantha L; Wang, Peiyuan; Chennavasin, Amanda; Diaz, Michele T; Dennis, Nancy A

2017-08-01

Successful performance of a memory-guided motor task requires participants to store and then recall an accurate representation of the motor goal. Further, participants must monitor motor output to make adjustments in the absence of visual feedback. The goal of this study was to examine memory-guided grip force in healthy younger and older adults and compare it to performance on behavioral tasks of working memory. Previous work demonstrates that healthy adults decrease force output as a function of time when visual feedback is not available. We hypothesized that older adults would decrease force output at a faster rate than younger adults, due to age-related deficits in working memory. Two groups of participants, younger adults (YA: N = 32, mean age 21.5 years) and older adults (OA: N = 33, mean age 69.3 years), completed four 20-s trials of isometric force with their index finger and thumb, equal to 25% of their maximum voluntary contraction. In the full-vision condition, visual feedback was available for the duration of the trial. In the no vision condition, visual feedback was removed for the last 12 s of each trial. Participants were asked to maintain constant force output in the absence of visual feedback. Participants also completed tasks of word recall and recognition and visuospatial working memory. Counter to our predictions, when visual feedback was removed, younger adults decreased force at a faster rate compared to older adults and the rate of decay was not associated with behavioral performance on tests of working memory.

Destination memory in social interaction: better memory for older than for younger destinations in normal aging?

PubMed

El Haj, Mohamad; Raffard, Stéphane; Fasotti, Luciano; Allain, Philippe

2018-05-01

Destination memory, a memory component allowing the attribution of information to its appropriate receiver (e.g., to whom did I lend my pen?), is compromised in normal aging. The present paper investigated whether older adults might show better memory for older destinations than for younger destinations. This hypothesis is based on empirical research showing better memory for older faces than for younger faces in older adults. Forty-one older adults and 44 younger adults were asked to tell proverbs to older and younger destinations (i.e., coloured faces). On a later recognition test, participants had to decide whether they had previously told some proverb to an older/younger destination or not. Prior to this task, participants reported their frequency of contact with other-age groups. The results showed lower destination memory in older adults than in younger adults. Interestingly, older adults displayed better memory for older than for younger destinations. The opposite pattern was seen in younger adults. The low memory for younger destinations, as observed in older adults, was significantly correlated with limited exposure to younger individuals. These findings suggest that for older adults, the social experience can play a crucial role in the destination memory, at least as far as exposure to other-age groups is concerned.

Unpleasant Situations Elicit Different Emotional Responses in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Charles, Susan Turk; Carstensen, Laura L.

2008-01-01

Older adults report less distress in response to interpersonal conflicts than do younger adults, yet few researchers have examined factors that may contribute to these age differences. Emotion regulation is partially determined by the initial cognitive and emotional reactions that events elicit. We examined reported thoughts and emotions of younger and older adults (N = 195) while they listened to three different audio-taped conversations in which people were ostensibly making disparaging remarks about them. At four points during each scenario, the tape paused and participants engaged in a talk-aloud procedure and rated their level of anger and sadness. Findings revealed that older adults reported less anger but equal levels of sadness compared to younger adults, and their comments were judged by coders as less negative. Older adults made fewer appraisals about the people speaking on the tape and expressed less interest in learning more about their motives. Together, findings are consistent with age-related increases in processes that promote disengagement from offending situations. PMID:18808240

Situation Selection and Modification for Emotion Regulation in Younger and Older Adults.

PubMed

Livingstone, Kimberly M; Isaacowitz, Derek M

2015-11-01

This research investigated age differences in use and effectiveness of situation selection and situation modification for emotion regulation. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests stronger emotional well-being goals in older age; emotion regulation may support this goal. Younger and older adults assigned to an emotion regulation or "just view" condition first freely chose to engage with negative, neutral, or positive material (situation selection), then chose to view or skip negative and positive material (situation modification), rating affect after each experience. In both tasks, older adults in both goal conditions demonstrated pro-hedonic emotion regulation, spending less time with negative material compared to younger adults. Younger adults in the regulate condition also engaged in pro-hedonic situation selection, but not modification. Whereas situation selection was related to affect, modification of negative material was not. This research supports more frequent pro-hedonic motivation in older age, as well as age differences in use of early-stage emotion regulation.

Situation Selection and Modification for Emotion Regulation in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Livingstone, Kimberly M.; Isaacowitz, Derek M.

2016-01-01

This research investigated age differences in use and effectiveness of situation selection and situation modification for emotion regulation. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests stronger emotional well-being goals in older age; emotion regulation may support this goal. Younger and older adults assigned to an emotion regulation or “just view” condition first freely chose to engage with negative, neutral, or positive material (situation selection), then chose to view or skip negative and positive material (situation modification), rating affect after each experience. In both tasks, older adults in both goal conditions demonstrated pro-hedonic emotion regulation, spending less time with negative material compared to younger adults. Younger adults in the regulate condition also engaged in pro-hedonic situation selection, but not modification. Whereas situation selection was related to affect, modification of negative material was not. This research supports more frequent pro-hedonic motivation in older age, as well as age differences in use of early-stage emotion regulation. PMID:26998196

The visual discrimination of negative facial expressions by younger and older adults.

PubMed

Mienaltowski, Andrew; Johnson, Ellen R; Wittman, Rebecca; Wilson, Anne-Taylor; Sturycz, Cassandra; Norman, J Farley

2013-04-05

Previous research has demonstrated that older adults are not as accurate as younger adults at perceiving negative emotions in facial expressions. These studies rely on emotion recognition tasks that involve choosing between many alternatives, creating the possibility that age differences emerge for cognitive rather than perceptual reasons. In the present study, an emotion discrimination task was used to investigate younger and older adults' ability to visually discriminate between negative emotional facial expressions (anger, sadness, fear, and disgust) at low (40%) and high (80%) expressive intensity. Participants completed trials blocked by pairs of emotions. Discrimination ability was quantified from the participants' responses using signal detection measures. In general, the results indicated that older adults had more difficulty discriminating between low intensity expressions of negative emotions than did younger adults. However, younger and older adults did not differ when discriminating between anger and sadness. These findings demonstrate that age differences in visual emotion discrimination emerge when signal detection measures are used but that these differences are not uniform and occur only in specific contexts.

Category learning strategies in younger and older adults: Rule abstraction and memorization.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N; McDaniel, Mark A; Little, Jeri L

2016-06-01

Despite the fundamental role of category learning in cognition, few studies have examined how this ability differs between younger and older adults. The present experiment examined possible age differences in category learning strategies and their effects on learning. Participants were trained on a category determined by a disjunctive rule applied to relational features. The utilization of rule- and exemplar-based strategies was indexed by self-reports and transfer performance. Based on self-reported strategies, the frequencies of rule- and exemplar-based learners were not significantly different between age groups, but there was a significantly higher frequency of intermediate learners (i.e., learners not identifying with a reliance on either rule- or exemplar-based strategies) in the older than younger adult group. Training performance was higher for younger than older adults regardless of the strategy utilized, showing that older adults were impaired in their ability to learn the correct rule or to remember exemplar-label associations. Transfer performance converged with strategy reports in showing higher fidelity category representations for younger adults. Younger adults with high working memory capacity were more likely to use an exemplar-based strategy, and older adults with high working memory capacity showed better training performance. Age groups did not differ in their self-reported memory beliefs, and these beliefs did not predict training strategies or performance. Overall, the present results contradict earlier findings that older adults prefer rule- to exemplar-based learning strategies, presumably to compensate for memory deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-related differences in strategy knowledge updating: blocked testing produces greater improvements in metacognitive accuracy for younger than older adults.

PubMed

Price, Jodi; Hertzog, Christopher; Dunlosky, John

2008-09-01

Age-related differences in updating knowledge about strategy effectiveness after task experience have not been consistently found, perhaps because the magnitude of observed knowledge updating has been rather meager for both age groups. We examined whether creating homogeneous blocks of recall tests based on two strategies used at encoding (imagery and repetition) would enhance people's learning about strategy effects on recall. Younger and older adults demonstrated greater knowledge updating (as measured by questionnaire ratings of strategy effectiveness and by global judgments of performance) with blocked (versus random) testing. The benefit of blocked testing for absolute accuracy of global predictions was smaller for older than younger adults. However, individual differences in correlations of strategy effectiveness ratings and postdictions showed similar upgrades for both age groups. Older adults learn about imagery's superior effectiveness but do not accurately estimate the magnitude of its benefit, even after blocked testing.

Task Inhibition and Response Inhibition in Older vs. Younger Adults: A Diffusion Model Analysis

PubMed Central

Schuch, Stefanie

2016-01-01

Differences in inhibitory ability between older (64–79 years, N = 24) and younger adults (18–26 years, N = 24) were investigated using a diffusion model analysis. Participants performed a task-switching paradigm that allows assessing n−2 task repetition costs, reflecting inhibitory control on the level of tasks, as well as n−1 response-repetition costs, reflecting inhibitory control on the level of responses. N−2 task repetition costs were of similar size in both age groups. Diffusion model analysis revealed that for both younger and older adults, drift rate parameters were smaller in the inhibition condition relative to the control condition, consistent with the idea that persisting task inhibition slows down response selection. Moreover, there was preliminary evidence for task inhibition effects in threshold separation and non-decision time in the older, but not the younger adults, suggesting that older adults might apply different strategies when dealing with persisting task inhibition. N−1 response-repetition costs in mean RT were larger in older than younger adults, but in mean error rates tended to be larger in younger than older adults. Diffusion-model analysis revealed longer non-decision times in response repetitions than response switches in both age groups, consistent with the idea that motor processes take longer in response repetitions than response switches due to persisting response inhibition of a previously executed response. The data also revealed age-related differences in overall performance: Older adults responded more slowly and more accurately than young adults, which was reflected by a higher threshold separation parameter in diffusion model analysis. Moreover, older adults showed larger non-decision times and higher variability in non-decision time than young adults, possibly reflecting slower and more variable motor processes. In contrast, overall drift rate did not differ between older and younger adults. Taken together

Feeling younger and identifying with older adults: Testing two routes to maintaining well-being in the face of age discrimination

PubMed Central

Stroebe, Katherine; Scheibe, Susanne; Postmes, Tom; Van Yperen, Nico W.

2017-01-01

Integrating the social identity and aging literatures, this work tested the hypothesis that there are two independent, but simultaneous, responses by which adults transitioning into old age can buffer themselves against age discrimination: an individual response, which entails adopting a younger subjective age when facing discrimination, and a collective response, which involves increasing identification with the group of older adults. In three experimental studies with a total number of 488 older adults (50 to 75 years of age), we manipulated age discrimination in a job application scenario and measured the effects of both responses on perceived health and self-esteem. Statistical analyses include individual study results as well as a meta-analysis on the combined results of the three studies. Findings show consistent evidence only for the individual response, which was in turn associated with well-being. Furthermore, challenging previous research, the two responses (adopting a younger subjective age and increasing group identification) were not only theoretically, but also empirically distinct. This research complements prior research by signaling the value of considering both responses to discrimination as complementary rather than mutually exclusive. PMID:29117257

Category Learning Strategies in Younger and Older Adults: Rule Abstraction and Memorization

PubMed Central

Wahlheim, Christopher N.; McDaniel, Mark A.; Little, Jeri L.

2016-01-01

Despite the fundamental role of category learning in cognition, few studies have examined how this ability differs between younger and older adults. The present experiment examined possible age differences in category learning strategies and their effects on learning. Participants were trained on a category determined by a disjunctive rule applied to relational features. The utilization of rule- and exemplar-based strategies was indexed by self-reports and transfer performance. Based on self-reported strategies, both age groups had comparable frequencies of rule- and exemplar-based learners, but older adults had a higher frequency of intermediate learners (i.e., learners not identifying with a reliance on either rule- or exemplar-based strategies). Training performance was higher for younger than older adults regardless of the strategy utilized, showing that older adults were impaired in their ability to learn the correct rule or to remember exemplar-label associations. Transfer performance converged with strategy reports in showing higher fidelity category representations for younger adults. Younger adults with high working memory capacity were more likely to use an exemplar-based strategy, and older adults with high working memory capacity showed better training performance. Age groups did not differ in their self-reported memory beliefs, and these beliefs did not predict training strategies or performance. Overall, the present results contradict earlier findings that older adults prefer rule- to exemplar-based learning strategies, presumably to compensate for memory deficits. PMID:26950225

Self-Regulated Learning in Younger and Older Adults: Does Aging Affect Metacognitive Control?

PubMed Central

Price, Jodi; Hertzog, Christopher; Dunlosky, John

2011-01-01

Two experiments examined whether younger and older adults’ self-regulated study (item selection and study time) conformed to the region of proximal learning (RPL) model when studying normatively easy, medium, and difficult vocabulary pairs. Experiment 2 manipulated the value of recalling different pairs and provided learning goals for words recalled and points earned. Younger and older adults in both experiments selected items for study in an easy-to-difficult order, indicating the RPL model applies to older adults’ self-regulated study. Individuals allocated more time to difficult items, but prioritized easier items when given less time or point values favoring difficult items. Older adults studied more items for longer but realized lower recall than did younger adults. Older adults’ lower memory self-efficacy and perceived control correlated with their greater item restudy and avoidance of difficult items with high point values. Results are discussed in terms of RPL and agenda-based regulation models. PMID:19866382

Do older adults with chronic low back pain differ from younger adults in regards to baseline characteristics and prognosis?

PubMed

Manogharan, S; Kongsted, A; Ferreira, M L; Hancock, M J

2017-05-01

Low back pain (LBP) in older adults is poorly understood because the vast majority of the LBP research has focused on the working aged population. The aim of this study was to compare older adults consulting with chronic LBP to middle aged and young adults consulting with chronic LBP, in terms of their baseline characteristics, and pain and disability outcomes over 1 year. Data were systematically collected as part of routine care in a secondary care spine clinic. At initial presentation patients answered a self-report questionnaire and underwent a physical examination. Patients older than 65 were classified as older adults and compared to middle aged (45-65 years old) and younger adults (17-44 years old) for 10 baseline characteristics. Pain intensity and disability were collected at 6 and 12 month follow-ups and compared between age groups. A total of 14,479 participants were included in the study. Of these 3087 (21%) patients were older adults, 6071 (42%) were middle aged and 5321 (37%) were young adults. At presentation older adults were statistically different to the middle aged and younger adults for most characteristics measured (e.g. less intense back pain, more leg pain and more depression); however, the differences were small. The change in pain and disability over 12 months did not differ between age groups. This study found small baseline differences in older people with chronic LBP compared to middle aged and younger adults. There were no associations between age groups and the clinical course. Small baseline differences exist in older people with chronic low back pain compared to middle aged and younger adults referred to secondary care for chronic low back pain. Older adults present with slightly less intense low back pain but slightly more intense leg pain. Changes in pain intensity and disability over a 12 month period were similar across all age groups. © 2017 European Pain Federation - EFIC®.

Medication adherence and rejection rates in older versus younger adult liver transplant recipients

PubMed Central

Leven, Emily A.; Annunziato, Rachel; Helcer, Jacqueline; Lieber, Sarah R.; Knight, Christopher S.; Wlodarkiewicz, Catherine; Soriano, Rainier P.; Florman, Sander S.; Schiano, Thomas D.; Shemesh, Eyal

2017-01-01

A growing number of older adults are undergoing liver transplantation (LT) in the US. In some settings, it is thought that adherence declines with age. This retrospective study examined adherence and clinical outcomes in older versus younger adult LT recipients. Medical records of adult LT recipients from 2009–2012 from a single urban center were reviewed. The medication level variability index (MLVI) was the pre-defined primary outcome, with nonadherence defined as MLVI >2.5. The secondary outcome was incidence of rejection. Outcomes were evaluated starting one year post-LT until 2015. 42/248 patients were ≥65 at transplant. Older adults had significantly better adherence than younger ones (65% ≥65 were adherent vs. 42% younger adults; Chi-Square two-tailed p=0.02). Survival analyses of rejection between age groups censored by time since transplant showed no difference among the four age groups (χ2 = 0.84, p=0.84). Older age was not found to be a risk factor for reduced adherence or graft rejection in patients surviving at least one year post-LT. PMID:28370346

Cognitive control adjustments in healthy older and younger adults: Conflict adaptation, the error-related negativity (ERN), and evidence of generalized decline with age.

PubMed

Larson, Michael J; Clayson, Peter E; Keith, Cierra M; Hunt, Isaac J; Hedges, Dawson W; Nielsen, Brent L; Call, Vaughn R A

2016-03-01

Older adults display alterations in neural reflections of conflict-related processing. We examined response times (RTs), error rates, and event-related potential (ERP; N2 and P3 components) indices of conflict adaptation (i.e., congruency sequence effects) a cognitive control process wherein previous-trial congruency influences current-trial performance, along with post-error slowing, correct-related negativity (CRN), error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) amplitudes in 65 healthy older adults and 94 healthy younger adults. Older adults showed generalized slowing, had decreased post-error slowing, and committed more errors than younger adults. Both older and younger adults showed conflict adaptation effects; magnitude of conflict adaptation did not differ by age. N2 amplitudes were similar between groups; younger, but not older, adults showed conflict adaptation effects for P3 component amplitudes. CRN and Pe, but not ERN, amplitudes differed between groups. Data support generalized declines in cognitive control processes in older adults without specific deficits in conflict adaptation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effects of sleep on episodic memory in older and younger adults.

PubMed

Aly, Mariam; Moscovitch, Morris

2010-04-01

Evidence on sleep-dependent benefits for episodic memory remains elusive. Furthermore we know little about age-related changes on the effects of sleep on episodic memory. The study we report is the first to compare the effects of sleep on episodic memories in younger and older adults. Memories of stories and personal events were assessed following a retention interval that included sleep and following an equal duration of wakefulness. Both older and younger adults have superior memory following sleep compared to following wakefulness for both types of material. Amount of forgetting of personal events was less during wakefulness in older adults than in younger adults, possibly due to spontaneous rehearsal. Amount of time spent sleeping correlated highly with sleep benefit in older adults, suggesting that quantity of total sleep, and/or time spent in some stages of sleep, are important contributors to age-related differences in memory consolidation or protection from interference during sleep.

Smartphone Text Input Method Performance, Usability, and Preference With Younger and Older Adults.

PubMed

Smith, Amanda L; Chaparro, Barbara S

2015-09-01

User performance, perceived usability, and preference for five smartphone text input methods were compared with younger and older novice adults. Smartphones are used for a variety of functions other than phone calls, including text messaging, e-mail, and web browsing. Research comparing performance with methods of text input on smartphones reveals a high degree of variability in reported measures, procedures, and results. This study reports on a direct comparison of five of the most common input methods among a population of younger and older adults, who had no experience with any of the methods. Fifty adults (25 younger, 18-35 years; 25 older, 60-84 years) completed a text entry task using five text input methods (physical Qwerty, onscreen Qwerty, tracing, handwriting, and voice). Entry and error rates, perceived usability, and preference were recorded. Both age groups input text equally fast using voice input, but older adults were slower than younger adults using all other methods. Both age groups had low error rates when using physical Qwerty and voice, but older adults committed more errors with the other three methods. Both younger and older adults preferred voice and physical Qwerty input to the remaining methods. Handwriting consistently performed the worst and was rated lowest by both groups. Voice and physical Qwerty input methods proved to be the most effective for both younger and older adults, and handwriting input was the least effective overall. These findings have implications to the design of future smartphone text input methods and devices, particularly for older adults. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

The Effect of Stimulus Valence on Lexical Retrieval in Younger and Older Adults.

PubMed

Blackett, Deena Schwen; Harnish, Stacy M; Lundine, Jennifer P; Zezinka, Alexandra; Healy, Eric W

2017-07-12

Although there is evidence that emotional valence of stimuli impacts lexical processes, there is limited work investigating its specific impact on lexical retrieval. The current study aimed to determine the degree to which emotional valence of pictured stimuli impacts naming latencies in healthy younger and older adults. Eighteen healthy younger adults and 18 healthy older adults named positive, negative, and neutral images, and reaction time was measured. Reaction times for positive and negative images were significantly longer than reaction times for neutral images. Reaction times for positive and negative images were not significantly different. Whereas older adults demonstrated significantly longer naming latencies overall than younger adults, the discrepancy in latency with age was far greater when naming emotional pictures. Emotional arousal of pictures appears to impact naming latency in younger and older adults. We hypothesize that the increase in naming latency for emotional stimuli is the result of a necessary disengagement of attentional resources from the emotional images prior to completion of the naming task. We propose that this process may affect older adults disproportionately due to a decline in attentional resources as part of normal aging, combined with a greater attentional preference for emotional stimuli.

Duration and Degree of Weight Gain and Incident Diabetes in Younger Versus Middle-Aged Black and White Adults: ARIC, CARDIA, and the Framingham Heart Study.

PubMed

Wei, Gina S; Coady, Sean A; Reis, Jared P; Carnethon, Mercedes R; Coresh, Josef; D'Agostino, Ralph B; Goff, David C; Jacobs, David R; Selvin, Elizabeth; Fox, Caroline S

2015-11-01

To determine whether duration and degree of weight gain are differentially associated with diabetes risk in younger versus middle-aged black and white adults. We combined data from three cohort studies: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC), Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA), and the Framingham Heart Study. A total of 17,404 participants (56% women; 21% black) were stratified by baseline age (younger: ≥30 and <45 years; middle-aged: ≥45 and <60 years) and examined for incident diabetes (median follow-up 9 years). Duration and degree of gain in BMI were calculated as "BMI-years" above one's baseline BMI. Diabetes incidence per 1,000 person-years in the younger and middle-aged groups was 7.2 (95% CI 5.7, 8.7) and 24.4 (22.0, 26.8) in blacks, respectively, and 3.4 (2.8, 4.0) and 10.5 (9.9, 11.2) in whites, respectively. After adjusting for sex, baseline BMI and other cardiometabolic factors, and age and race interaction terms, gains in BMI-years were associated with higher risk of diabetes in the younger compared with middle-aged groups: hazard ratios for 1-unit increase in log BMI-years in younger versus middle-aged blacks were 1.18 (P = 0.02) and 1.02 (P = 0.39), respectively (P for interaction by age-group = 0.047), and in whites were 1.35 (P < 0.001) and 1.11 (P < 0.001), respectively (P for interaction by age-group = 0.008). Although middle-aged adults have higher rates of diabetes, younger adults are at greater relative risk of developing diabetes for a given level of duration and degree of weight gain. © 2015 by the American Diabetes Association. Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered.

Why older adults make more immediate treatment decisions about cancer than younger adults.

PubMed

Meyer, Bonnie J F; Talbot, Andrew P; Ranalli, Carlee

2007-09-01

Literature relevant to medical decision making was reviewed, and a model was outlined for testing. Two studies examined whether older adults make more immediate decisions than younger adults about treatments for prostate or breast cancer in authentic scenarios. Findings clearly showed that older adults were more likely to make immediate decisions than younger adults. The research is important because it not only demonstrates the consistency of this age-related effect across disease domains, gender, ethnic groups, and prevalent education levels but begins to investigate a model to explain the effect. Major reasons for the effect focus on treatment knowledge, interest and engagement, and cognitive resources. Treatment knowledge, general cancer knowledge, interest, and cognitive resources relate to different ways of processing treatment information and preferences for immediate versus delayed decision making. Adults with high knowledge of treatments on a reliable test tended to make immediate treatment decisions, which supports the knowledge explanation. Adults with more cognitive resources and more interest tended to delay their treatment decisions. Little support was found for a cohort explanation for the relationship between age and preference for immediate medical decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).

The Impact of Presentation Format on Younger and Older Adults' Self-Regulated Learning.

PubMed

Price, Jodi

2017-01-01

Background/Study Context: Self-regulated learning involves deciding what to study and for how long. Debate surrounds whether individuals' selections are influenced more by item complexity, point values, or if instead people select in a left-to-right reading order, ignoring item complexity and value. The present study manipulated whether point values and presentation format favored selection of simple or complex Chinese-English pairs to assess the impact on younger and older adults' selection behaviors. One hundred and five younger (M age  = 20.26, SD = 2.38) and 102 older adults (M age  = 70.28, SD = 6.37) participated in the experiment. Participants studied four different 3 × 3 grids (two per trial), each containing three simple, three medium, and three complex Chinese-English vocabulary pairs presented in either a simple-first or complex-first order, depending on condition. Point values were assigned in either a 2-4-8 or 8-4-2 order so that either simple or complex items were favored. Points did not influence the order in which either age group selected items, whereas presentation format did. Younger and older adults selected more simple or complex items when they appeared in the first column. However, older adults selected and allocated more time to simpler items but recalled less overall than did younger adults. Memory beliefs and working memory capacity predicted study time allocation, but not item selection, behaviors. Presentation format must be considered when evaluating which theory of self-regulated learning best accounts for younger and older adults' study behaviors and whether there are age-related differences in self-regulated learning. The results of the present study combine with others to support the importance of also considering the role of external factors (e.g., working memory capacity and memory beliefs) in each age group's self-regulated learning decisions.

Neurophysiological and Behavioral Differences between Older and Younger Adults When Processing Violations of Tonal Structure in Music

PubMed Central

Lagrois, Marie-Élaine; Peretz, Isabelle; Zendel, Benjamin Rich

2018-01-01

Aging is associated with decline in both cognitive and auditory abilities. However, evidence suggests that music perception is relatively spared, despite relying on auditory and cognitive abilities that tend to decline with age. It is therefore likely that older adults engage compensatory mechanisms which should be evident in the underlying functional neurophysiology related to processing music. In other words, the perception of musical structure would be similar or enhanced in older compared to younger adults, while the underlying functional neurophysiology would be different. The present study aimed to compare the electrophysiological brain responses of younger and older adults to melodic incongruities during a passive and active listening task. Older and younger adults had a similar ability to detect an out-of-tune incongruity (i.e., non-chromatic), while the amplitudes of the ERAN and P600 were reduced in older adults compared to younger adults. On the other hand, out-of-key incongruities (i.e., non-diatonic), were better detected by older adults compared to younger adults, while the ERAN and P600 were comparable between the two age groups. This pattern of results indicates that perception of tonal structure is preserved in older adults, despite age-related neurophysiological changes in how melodic violations are processed. PMID:29487498

Neurophysiological and Behavioral Differences between Older and Younger Adults When Processing Violations of Tonal Structure in Music.

PubMed

Lagrois, Marie-Élaine; Peretz, Isabelle; Zendel, Benjamin Rich

2018-01-01

Aging is associated with decline in both cognitive and auditory abilities. However, evidence suggests that music perception is relatively spared, despite relying on auditory and cognitive abilities that tend to decline with age. It is therefore likely that older adults engage compensatory mechanisms which should be evident in the underlying functional neurophysiology related to processing music. In other words, the perception of musical structure would be similar or enhanced in older compared to younger adults, while the underlying functional neurophysiology would be different. The present study aimed to compare the electrophysiological brain responses of younger and older adults to melodic incongruities during a passive and active listening task. Older and younger adults had a similar ability to detect an out-of-tune incongruity (i.e., non-chromatic), while the amplitudes of the ERAN and P600 were reduced in older adults compared to younger adults. On the other hand, out-of-key incongruities (i.e., non-diatonic), were better detected by older adults compared to younger adults, while the ERAN and P600 were comparable between the two age groups. This pattern of results indicates that perception of tonal structure is preserved in older adults, despite age-related neurophysiological changes in how melodic violations are processed.

Reduced impact of alcohol use on next-day tiredness in older relative to younger adults: A role for sleep duration.

PubMed

Lydon-Staley, David M; Ram, Nilam; Brose, Annette; Schmiedek, Florian

2017-11-01

Recent work has suggested that older adults may be less susceptible to the next-day effects of alcohol relative to younger adults. The effects of alcohol in younger adults may be mediated by sleep duration, but due to age differences in the contexts of alcohol use, this mediation process may not generalize to older adults. The present study examined age-group (younger vs. older adults) differences in how alcohol use influenced next-day tiredness during daily life. Reports of alcohol use, sleep duration, and next-day tiredness obtained on ∼101 days from 91 younger adults (ages 20-31 years) and 75 older adults (ages 65-80 years) were modeled using a multilevel, moderated mediation framework. Findings indicated that (a) greater-than-usual alcohol use was associated with greater-than-usual tiredness in younger adults only, (b) greater-than-usual alcohol use was associated with shorter-than-usual sleep duration in younger adults only, and (c) shorter-than-usual sleep duration was associated with greater tiredness in both younger and older adults. For the prototypical younger adult, a significant portion (43%) of the association between alcohol use and next-day tiredness could be explained assuming mediation through sleep duration, whereas there was no evidence of mediation for the prototypical older adult. Findings of age differences in the mediation process underlying associations among alcohol use, sleep, and tiredness provide insight into the mechanisms driving recent observations of reduced next-day effects of alcohol in older relative to younger adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Goal-setting, self-efficacy, and memory performance in older and younger adults.

PubMed

West, R L; Thorn, R M

2001-01-01

Research in field and laboratory settings has shown that goals lead to improved self-efficacy and performance, especially when individuals also receive positive feedback. The present study extended goal-setting theory to examine self-set goals and feedback in relation to younger and older adults' memory performance and self-efficacy. Following a baseline recall trial, participants completed three shopping list recall trials. Half of the participants were instructed to set goals for the three experimental trials, and half in each goal condition received performance feedback after each trial. Young adults' self-efficacy, clustering, and recall exceeded that of older adults. Goal setting increased self-efficacy for younger but not older adults, and it did not affect performance. Younger adults and participants in the feedback condition increased their goals across trials, as did participants for whom feedback indicated success. These data provide a first look at the motivational impact of feedback and self-set recall goals in memory aging. Additional study is needed to understand the interactive effects of type of feedback, memory task difficulty, and type of goal setting at different ages.

Variability in reaction time performance of younger and older adults.

PubMed

Hultsch, David F; MacDonald, Stuart W S; Dixon, Roger A

2002-03-01

Age differences in three basic types of variability were examined: variability between persons (diversity), variability within persons across tasks (dispersion), and variability within persons across time (inconsistency). Measures of variability were based on latency performance from four measures of reaction time (RT) performed by a total of 99 younger adults (ages 17--36 years) and 763 older adults (ages 54--94 years). Results indicated that all three types of variability were greater in older compared with younger participants even when group differences in speed were statistically controlled. Quantile-quantile plots showed age and task differences in the shape of the inconsistency distributions. Measures of within-person variability (dispersion and inconsistency) were positively correlated. Individual differences in RT inconsistency correlated negatively with level of performance on measures of perceptual speed, working memory, episodic memory, and crystallized abilities. Partial set correlation analyses indicated that inconsistency predicted cognitive performance independent of level of performance. The results indicate that variability of performance is an important indicator of cognitive functioning and aging.

Testing the Limits of Optimizing Dual-Task Performance in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Strobach, Tilo; Frensch, Peter; Müller, Herrmann Josef; Schubert, Torsten

2012-01-01

Impaired dual-task performance in younger and older adults can be improved with practice. Optimal conditions even allow for a (near) elimination of this impairment in younger adults. However, it is unknown whether such (near) elimination is the limit of performance improvements in older adults. The present study tests this limit in older adults under conditions of (a) a high amount of dual-task training and (b) training with simplified component tasks in dual-task situations. The data showed that a high amount of dual-task training in older adults provided no evidence for an improvement of dual-task performance to the optimal dual-task performance level achieved by younger adults. However, training with simplified component tasks in dual-task situations exclusively in older adults provided a similar level of optimal dual-task performance in both age groups. Therefore through applying a testing the limits approach, we demonstrated that older adults improved dual-task performance to the same level as younger adults at the end of training under very specific conditions. PMID:22408613

Framing Effects in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Kim, Sunghan; Goldstein, David; Hasher, Lynn; Zacks, Rose T.

2006-01-01

A growing literature on decision making in older adults suggests that they are more likely to use heuristic processing than are younger adults. We assessed this tendency in the context of a framing effect, a decision-making phenomenon whereby the language used to describe options greatly influences the decision maker’s choice. We compared decision making under a standard (“heuristic”) condition and also under a “justification” condition known to reduce reliance on heuristics. In the standard condition, older adults were more susceptible than younger adults to framing but the two groups did not differ when participants were asked to provide a justification. Thus, although older adults may spontaneously rely more on heuristic processing than younger adults, they can be induced to take a more systematic approach to decision making. PMID:15980289

Framing effects in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Kim, Sunghan; Goldstein, David; Hasher, Lynn; Zacks, Rose T

2005-07-01

A growing literature on decision making in older adults suggests that they are more likely to use heuristic processing than are younger adults. We assessed this tendency in the context of a framing effect, a decision-making phenomenon whereby the language used to describe options greatly influences the decision maker's choice. We compared decision making under a standard ("heuristic") condition and also under a "justification" condition known to reduce reliance on heuristics. In the standard condition, older adults were more susceptible than younger adults to framing but the two groups did not differ when participants were asked to provide a justification. Thus, although older adults may spontaneously rely more on heuristic processing than younger adults, they can be induced to take a more systematic approach to decision making.

Gaze Behavior Consistency among Older and Younger Adults When Looking at Emotional Faces

PubMed Central

Chaby, Laurence; Hupont, Isabelle; Avril, Marie; Luherne-du Boullay, Viviane; Chetouani, Mohamed

2017-01-01

The identification of non-verbal emotional signals, and especially of facial expressions, is essential for successful social communication among humans. Previous research has reported an age-related decline in facial emotion identification, and argued for socio-emotional or aging-brain model explanations. However, more perceptual differences in the gaze strategies that accompany facial emotional processing with advancing age have been under-explored yet. In this study, 22 young (22.2 years) and 22 older (70.4 years) adults were instructed to look at basic facial expressions while their gaze movements were recorded by an eye-tracker. Participants were then asked to identify each emotion, and the unbiased hit rate was applied as performance measure. Gaze data were first analyzed using traditional measures of fixations over two preferential regions of the face (upper and lower areas) for each emotion. Then, to better capture core gaze changes with advancing age, spatio-temporal gaze behaviors were deeper examined using data-driven analysis (dimension reduction, clustering). Results first confirmed that older adults performed worse than younger adults at identifying facial expressions, except for “joy” and “disgust,” and this was accompanied by a gaze preference toward the lower-face. Interestingly, this phenomenon was maintained during the whole time course of stimulus presentation. More importantly, trials corresponding to older adults were more tightly clustered, suggesting that the gaze behavior patterns of older adults are more consistent than those of younger adults. This study demonstrates that, confronted to emotional faces, younger and older adults do not prioritize or ignore the same facial areas. Older adults mainly adopted a focused-gaze strategy, consisting in focusing only on the lower part of the face throughout the whole stimuli display time. This consistency may constitute a robust and distinctive “social signature” of emotional

The cognitive control of emotional versus value-based information in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Eich, Teal S; Castel, Alan D

2016-08-01

We investigated age-related changes in the cognitive control of value-based and emotionally valenced information. In 2 experiments, participants completed a selectivity task in which to-be-recalled words differed in value and emotional salience. In Experiment 1, all low-valued words were emotional, and emotional valence (positive/negative) was manipulated between subjects. In Experiment 2, valence was manipulated within subjects, with the addition of a control condition in which all words (emotional and neutral) were equally valued. We found that older and younger adults recalled more neutral words than emotional words in both experiments when emotional words were low-valued, and more emotional words than neutral words in the control condition. Emotion did not interact with age in either experiment, suggesting that the impact of emotional saliency on memory is age-invariant. We also found that the number of items recalled was lower for older compared to younger adults in both experiments. Despite this, older and younger adults showed equivalent selectivity in terms of which words they recalled. These results suggest that older adults employ strategic control and use value-based information to guide memory processes equivalently to younger adults, even in the face of salient emotional information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The choices we make: An examination of situation selection in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Rovenpor, Daniel R.; Skogsberg, Nikolaus J.; Isaacowitz, Derek M.

2013-01-01

The current study examined the effects of age and control beliefs on the use of situation selection. Younger and older adults spent 15 minutes in a room containing multiple affective streams that varied in emotional valence, and were given free choice to engage with whatever they wanted. No significant main effect of age emerged on the number of choices of, or time spent with, material of each valence. However, age and beliefs interacted such that older adults with strong emotion regulation self-efficacy and general control beliefs chose fewer negative stimuli, whereas younger adults with strong beliefs chose more negative stimuli. Results are discussed from aging and individual differences perspectives. PMID:23088197

Visual feature binding in younger and older adults: encoding and suffix interference effects.

PubMed

Brown, Louise A; Niven, Elaine H; Logie, Robert H; Rhodes, Stephen; Allen, Richard J

2017-02-01

Three experiments investigated younger (18-25 yrs) and older (70-88 yrs) adults' temporary memory for colour-shape combinations (binding). We focused upon estimating the magnitude of the binding cost for each age group across encoding time (Experiment 1; 900/1500 ms), presentation format (Experiment 2; simultaneous/sequential), and interference (Experiment 3; control/suffix) conditions. In Experiment 1, encoding time did not differentially influence binding in the two age groups. In Experiment 2, younger adults exhibited poorer binding performance with sequential relative to simultaneous presentation, and serial position analyses highlighted a particular age-related difficulty remembering the middle item of a series (for all memory conditions). Experiments 1-3 demonstrated small to medium binding effect sizes in older adults across all encoding conditions, with binding less accurate than shape memory. However, younger adults also displayed negative effects of binding (small to large) in two of the experiments. Even when older adults exhibited a greater suffix interference effect in Experiment 3, this was for all memory types, not just binding. We therefore conclude that there is no consistent evidence for a visual binding deficit in healthy older adults. This relative preservation contrasts with the specific and substantial deficits in visual feature binding found in several recent studies of Alzheimer's disease.

Positive Outcomes Enhance Incidental Learning for Both Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Mather, Mara; Schoeke, Andrej

2011-01-01

Previous studies suggest that memory encoding is enhanced when people are anticipating a potential reward, consistent with the idea that dopaminergic systems that respond to motivationally relevant information also enhance memory for that information. In the current study, we examined how anticipating and receiving rewards versus losses affect incidental learning of information. In addition, we compared the modulatory effects of reward anticipation and outcome on memory for younger and older adults. Forty-two younger (aged 18–33 years) and 44 older (aged 66–92 years) adults played a game involving pressing a button as soon as they saw a target. Gain trials began with a cue that they would win $0.25 if they pressed the button fast enough, loss trials began with a cue that they would avoid losing $0.25 if they pressed the button fast enough, and no-outcome trials began with a cue indicating no monetary outcome. The target was a different photo-object on each trial (e.g., balloon, dolphin) and performance outcomes were displayed after the photo disappeared. Both younger and older adults recalled and recognized pictures from trials with positive outcomes (either rewarding or loss avoiding) better than from trials with negative outcomes. Positive outcomes were associated with not only enhanced memory for the picture just seen in that trial, but also with enhanced memory for the pictures shown in the next two trials. Although anticipating a reward also enhanced incidental memory, this effect was seen only in recognition memory of positive pictures and was a smaller effect than the outcome effect. The fact that older adults showed similar incidental memory effects of reward anticipation and outcome as younger adults suggests that reward–memory system interactions remain intact in older age. PMID:22125509

Preferences for emotional information in older and younger adults: a meta-analysis of memory and attention tasks.

PubMed

Murphy, Nora A; Isaacowitz, Derek M

2008-06-01

The authors conducted a meta-analysis to determine the magnitude of older and younger adults' preferences for emotional stimuli in studies of attention and memory. Analyses involved 1,085 older adults from 37 independent samples and 3,150 younger adults from 86 independent samples. Both age groups exhibited small to medium emotion salience effects (i.e., preference for emotionally valenced stimuli over neutral stimuli) as well as positivity preferences (i.e., preference for positively valenced stimuli over neutral stimuli) and negativity preferences (i.e., preference for negatively valenced stimuli to neutral stimuli). There were few age differences overall. Type of measurement appeared to influence the magnitude of effects; recognition studies indicated significant age effects, where older adults showed smaller effects for emotion salience and negativity preferences than younger adults.

Relationship between perceptual learning in speech and statistical learning in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Neger, Thordis M.; Rietveld, Toni; Janse, Esther

2014-01-01

Within a few sentences, listeners learn to understand severely degraded speech such as noise-vocoded speech. However, individuals vary in the amount of such perceptual learning and it is unclear what underlies these differences. The present study investigates whether perceptual learning in speech relates to statistical learning, as sensitivity to probabilistic information may aid identification of relevant cues in novel speech input. If statistical learning and perceptual learning (partly) draw on the same general mechanisms, then statistical learning in a non-auditory modality using non-linguistic sequences should predict adaptation to degraded speech. In the present study, 73 older adults (aged over 60 years) and 60 younger adults (aged between 18 and 30 years) performed a visual artificial grammar learning task and were presented with 60 meaningful noise-vocoded sentences in an auditory recall task. Within age groups, sentence recognition performance over exposure was analyzed as a function of statistical learning performance, and other variables that may predict learning (i.e., hearing, vocabulary, attention switching control, working memory, and processing speed). Younger and older adults showed similar amounts of perceptual learning, but only younger adults showed significant statistical learning. In older adults, improvement in understanding noise-vocoded speech was constrained by age. In younger adults, amount of adaptation was associated with lexical knowledge and with statistical learning ability. Thus, individual differences in general cognitive abilities explain listeners' variability in adapting to noise-vocoded speech. Results suggest that perceptual and statistical learning share mechanisms of implicit regularity detection, but that the ability to detect statistical regularities is impaired in older adults if visual sequences are presented quickly. PMID:25225475

Relationship between perceptual learning in speech and statistical learning in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Neger, Thordis M; Rietveld, Toni; Janse, Esther

2014-01-01

Within a few sentences, listeners learn to understand severely degraded speech such as noise-vocoded speech. However, individuals vary in the amount of such perceptual learning and it is unclear what underlies these differences. The present study investigates whether perceptual learning in speech relates to statistical learning, as sensitivity to probabilistic information may aid identification of relevant cues in novel speech input. If statistical learning and perceptual learning (partly) draw on the same general mechanisms, then statistical learning in a non-auditory modality using non-linguistic sequences should predict adaptation to degraded speech. In the present study, 73 older adults (aged over 60 years) and 60 younger adults (aged between 18 and 30 years) performed a visual artificial grammar learning task and were presented with 60 meaningful noise-vocoded sentences in an auditory recall task. Within age groups, sentence recognition performance over exposure was analyzed as a function of statistical learning performance, and other variables that may predict learning (i.e., hearing, vocabulary, attention switching control, working memory, and processing speed). Younger and older adults showed similar amounts of perceptual learning, but only younger adults showed significant statistical learning. In older adults, improvement in understanding noise-vocoded speech was constrained by age. In younger adults, amount of adaptation was associated with lexical knowledge and with statistical learning ability. Thus, individual differences in general cognitive abilities explain listeners' variability in adapting to noise-vocoded speech. Results suggest that perceptual and statistical learning share mechanisms of implicit regularity detection, but that the ability to detect statistical regularities is impaired in older adults if visual sequences are presented quickly.

Cannabis Use Patterns and Motives: A Comparison of Younger, Middle-Aged, and Older Medical Cannabis Dispensary Patients

PubMed Central

Haug, Nancy A.; Padula, Claudia B.; Sottile, James E.; Vandrey, Ryan; Heinz, Adrienne J.; Bonn-Miller, Marcel O.

2017-01-01

Introduction Medical cannabis is increasingly being used for a variety of health conditions as more states implement legislation permitting medical use of cannabis. Little is known about medical cannabis use patterns and motives among adults across the lifespan. Methods The present study examined data collected at a medical cannabis dispensary in San Francisco, California. Participants included 217 medical cannabis patients who were grouped into age-defined cohorts (younger: 18–30, middle-aged: 31–50, and older: 51–72). The age groups were compared on several measures of cannabis use, motives and medical conditions using one-way ANOVAs, chi-square tests and linear regression analyses. Results All three age groups had similar frequency of cannabis use over the past month; however, the quantity of cannabis used and rates of problematic cannabis use were higher among younger users relative to middle-aged and older adults. The association between age and problematic cannabis use was moderated by age of regular use initiation such that earlier age of regular cannabis use onset was associated with more problematic use in the younger users, but not among older users. Middle-aged adults were more likely to report using medical cannabis for insomnia, while older adults were more likely to use medical cannabis for chronic medical problems such as cancer, glaucoma and HIV/AIDS. Younger participants reported cannabis use when bored at a greater rate than middle-aged and older adults. Conclusions Findings suggest that there is an age-related risk for problematic cannabis use among medical cannabis users, such that younger users should be monitored for cannabis use patterns that may lead to deleterious consequences. PMID:28340421

Cannabis use patterns and motives: A comparison of younger, middle-aged, and older medical cannabis dispensary patients.

PubMed

Haug, Nancy A; Padula, Claudia B; Sottile, James E; Vandrey, Ryan; Heinz, Adrienne J; Bonn-Miller, Marcel O

2017-09-01

Medical cannabis is increasingly being used for a variety of health conditions as more states implement legislation permitting medical use of cannabis. Little is known about medical cannabis use patterns and motives among adults across the lifespan. The present study examined data collected at a medical cannabis dispensary in San Francisco, California. Participants included 217 medical cannabis patients who were grouped into age-defined cohorts (younger: 18-30, middle-aged: 31-50, and older: 51-72). The age groups were compared on several measures of cannabis use, motives and medical conditions using one-way ANOVAs, chi-square tests and linear regression analyses. All three age groups had similar frequency of cannabis use over the past month; however, the quantity of cannabis used and rates of problematic cannabis use were higher among younger users relative to middle-aged and older adults. The association between age and problematic cannabis use was moderated by age of regular use initiation such that earlier age of regular cannabis use onset was associated with more problematic use in the younger users, but not among older users. Middle-aged adults were more likely to report using medical cannabis for insomnia, while older adults were more likely to use medical cannabis for chronic medical problems such as cancer, glaucoma and HIV/AIDS. Younger participants reported cannabis use when bored at a greater rate than middle-aged and older adults. Findings suggest that there is an age-related risk for problematic cannabis use among medical cannabis users, such that younger users should be monitored for cannabis use patterns that may lead to deleterious consequences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Amphetamine modulates brain signal variability and working memory in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Garrett, Douglas D; Nagel, Irene E; Preuschhof, Claudia; Burzynska, Agnieszka Z; Marchner, Janina; Wiegert, Steffen; Jungehülsing, Gerhard J; Nyberg, Lars; Villringer, Arno; Li, Shu-Chen; Heekeren, Hauke R; Bäckman, Lars; Lindenberger, Ulman

2015-06-16

Better-performing younger adults typically express greater brain signal variability relative to older, poorer performers. Mechanisms for age and performance-graded differences in brain dynamics have, however, not yet been uncovered. Given the age-related decline of the dopamine (DA) system in normal cognitive aging, DA neuromodulation is one plausible mechanism. Hence, agents that boost systemic DA [such as d-amphetamine (AMPH)] may help to restore deficient signal variability levels. Furthermore, despite the standard practice of counterbalancing drug session order (AMPH first vs. placebo first), it remains understudied how AMPH may interact with practice effects, possibly influencing whether DA up-regulation is functional. We examined the effects of AMPH on functional-MRI-based blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal variability (SD(BOLD)) in younger and older adults during a working memory task (letter n-back). Older adults expressed lower brain signal variability at placebo, but met or exceeded young adult SD(BOLD) levels in the presence of AMPH. Drug session order greatly moderated change-change relations between AMPH-driven SD(BOLD) and reaction time means (RT(mean)) and SDs (RT(SD)). Older adults who received AMPH in the first session tended to improve in RT(mean) and RT(SD) when SD(BOLD) was boosted on AMPH, whereas younger and older adults who received AMPH in the second session showed either a performance improvement when SD(BOLD) decreased (for RT(mean)) or no effect at all (for RT(SD)). The present findings support the hypothesis that age differences in brain signal variability reflect aging-induced changes in dopaminergic neuromodulation. The observed interactions among AMPH, age, and session order highlight the state- and practice-dependent neurochemical basis of human brain dynamics.

Amphetamine modulates brain signal variability and working memory in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Garrett, Douglas D.; Nagel, Irene E.; Preuschhof, Claudia; Burzynska, Agnieszka Z.; Marchner, Janina; Wiegert, Steffen; Jungehülsing, Gerhard J.; Nyberg, Lars; Villringer, Arno; Li, Shu-Chen; Heekeren, Hauke R.; Bäckman, Lars; Lindenberger, Ulman

2015-01-01

Better-performing younger adults typically express greater brain signal variability relative to older, poorer performers. Mechanisms for age and performance-graded differences in brain dynamics have, however, not yet been uncovered. Given the age-related decline of the dopamine (DA) system in normal cognitive aging, DA neuromodulation is one plausible mechanism. Hence, agents that boost systemic DA [such as d-amphetamine (AMPH)] may help to restore deficient signal variability levels. Furthermore, despite the standard practice of counterbalancing drug session order (AMPH first vs. placebo first), it remains understudied how AMPH may interact with practice effects, possibly influencing whether DA up-regulation is functional. We examined the effects of AMPH on functional-MRI–based blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal variability (SDBOLD) in younger and older adults during a working memory task (letter n-back). Older adults expressed lower brain signal variability at placebo, but met or exceeded young adult SDBOLD levels in the presence of AMPH. Drug session order greatly moderated change–change relations between AMPH-driven SDBOLD and reaction time means (RTmean) and SDs (RTSD). Older adults who received AMPH in the first session tended to improve in RTmean and RTSD when SDBOLD was boosted on AMPH, whereas younger and older adults who received AMPH in the second session showed either a performance improvement when SDBOLD decreased (for RTmean) or no effect at all (for RTSD). The present findings support the hypothesis that age differences in brain signal variability reflect aging-induced changes in dopaminergic neuromodulation. The observed interactions among AMPH, age, and session order highlight the state- and practice-dependent neurochemical basis of human brain dynamics. PMID:26034283

Story Processing Ability in Cognitively Healthy Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Wright, Heather Harris; Capilouto, Gilson J.; Srinivasan, Cidambi; Fergadiotis, Gerasimos

2012-01-01

Purpose The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among measures of comprehension and production for stories depicted in wordless pictures books and measures of memory and attention for 2 age groups. Method Sixty cognitively healthy adults participated. They consisted of two groups—young adults (20–29 years of age) and older adults (70–89 years of age). Participants completed cognitive measures and several discourse tasks; these included telling stories depicted in wordless picture books and answering multiple-choice comprehension questions pertaining to the story. Results The 2 groups did not differ significantly for proportion of story propositions conveyed; however, the younger group performed significantly better on the comprehension measure as compared with the older group. Only the older group demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between the story measures. Performance on the production and comprehension measures significantly correlated with performance on the cognitive measures for the older group but not for the younger group. Conclusions The relationship between adults’ comprehension of stimuli used to elicit narrative production samples and their narrative productions differed across the life span, suggesting that discourse processing performance changes in healthy aging. Finally, the study’s findings suggest that memory and attention contribute to older adults’ story processing performance. PMID:21106701

Action Prediction in Younger versus Older Adults: Neural Correlates of Motor Familiarity

PubMed Central

Diersch, Nadine; Mueller, Karsten; Cross, Emily S.; Stadler, Waltraud; Rieger, Martina; Schütz-Bosbach, Simone

2013-01-01

Generating predictions during action observation is essential for efficient navigation through our social environment. With age, the sensitivity in action prediction declines. In younger adults, the action observation network (AON), consisting of premotor, parietal and occipitotemporal cortices, has been implicated in transforming executed and observed actions into a common code. Much less is known about age-related changes in the neural representation of observed actions. Using fMRI, the present study measured brain activity in younger and older adults during the prediction of temporarily occluded actions (figure skating elements and simple movement exercises). All participants were highly familiar with the movement exercises whereas only some participants were experienced figure skaters. With respect to the AON, the results confirm that this network was preferentially engaged for the more familiar movement exercises. Compared to younger adults, older adults recruited visual regions to perform the task and, additionally, the hippocampus and caudate when the observed actions were familiar to them. Thus, instead of effectively exploiting the sensorimotor matching properties of the AON, older adults seemed to rely predominantly on the visual dynamics of the observed actions to perform the task. Our data further suggest that the caudate played an important role during the prediction of the less familiar figure skating elements in better-performing groups. Together, these findings show that action prediction engages a distributed network in the brain, which is modulated by the content of the observed actions and the age and experience of the observer. PMID:23704980

Action prediction in younger versus older adults: neural correlates of motor familiarity.

PubMed

Diersch, Nadine; Mueller, Karsten; Cross, Emily S; Stadler, Waltraud; Rieger, Martina; Schütz-Bosbach, Simone

2013-01-01

Generating predictions during action observation is essential for efficient navigation through our social environment. With age, the sensitivity in action prediction declines. In younger adults, the action observation network (AON), consisting of premotor, parietal and occipitotemporal cortices, has been implicated in transforming executed and observed actions into a common code. Much less is known about age-related changes in the neural representation of observed actions. Using fMRI, the present study measured brain activity in younger and older adults during the prediction of temporarily occluded actions (figure skating elements and simple movement exercises). All participants were highly familiar with the movement exercises whereas only some participants were experienced figure skaters. With respect to the AON, the results confirm that this network was preferentially engaged for the more familiar movement exercises. Compared to younger adults, older adults recruited visual regions to perform the task and, additionally, the hippocampus and caudate when the observed actions were familiar to them. Thus, instead of effectively exploiting the sensorimotor matching properties of the AON, older adults seemed to rely predominantly on the visual dynamics of the observed actions to perform the task. Our data further suggest that the caudate played an important role during the prediction of the less familiar figure skating elements in better-performing groups. Together, these findings show that action prediction engages a distributed network in the brain, which is modulated by the content of the observed actions and the age and experience of the observer.

Designing an information search interface for younger and older adults.

PubMed

Pak, Richard; Price, Margaux M

2008-08-01

The present study examined Web-based information retrieval as a function of age for two information organization schemes: hierarchical organization and one organized around tags or keywords. Older adults' performance in information retrieval tasks has traditionally been lower compared with younger adults'. The current study examined the degree to which information organization moderated age-related performance differences on an information retrieval task. The theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence may provide insight into different kinds of information architectures that may reduce age-related differences in computer-based information retrieval performance. Fifty younger (18-23 years of age) and 50 older (55-76 years of age) participants browsed a Web site for answers to specific questions. Half of the participants browsed the hierarchically organized system (taxonomy), which maintained a one-to-one relationship between menu link and page, whereas the other half browsed the tag-based interface, with a many-to-one relationship between menu and page. This difference was expected to interact with age-related differences in fluid and crystallized intelligence. Age-related differences in information retrieval performance persisted; however, a tag-based retrieval interface reduced age-related differences, as compared with a taxonomical interface. Cognitive aging theory can lead to interface interventions that reduce age-related differences in performance with technology. In an information retrieval paradigm, older adults may be able to leverage their increased crystallized intelligence to offset fluid intelligence declines in a computer-based information search task. More research is necessary, but the results suggest that information retrieval interfaces organized around keywords may reduce age-related differences in performance.

Memory for staged events: Supporting older and younger adults' memory with SenseCam.

PubMed

Mair, Ali; Poirier, Marie; Conway, Martin A

2018-03-01

Two experiments measured the effect of retrieval support provided by a wearable camera, SenseCam, on older and younger adults' memory for a recently experienced complex staged event. In each experiment, participants completed a series of tasks in groups, and the events were recalled 2 weeks later, after viewing SenseCam images (experimental condition) or thinking about the event (control condition). When IQ and education were matched, young adults recalled more event details than older adults, demonstrating an age-related deficit for novel autobiographical material. Reviewing SenseCam images increased the number of details recalled by older and younger adults, and the effect was similar for both groups. These results suggest that memory can be supported by the use of SenseCam, but the age-related deficit is not eliminated.

Similarity to the Self Affects Memory for Impressions of Others in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Park, Jung M.; Gutchess, Angela H.

2015-01-01

Objectives. Similarity to the self has been shown to affect memory for impressions in younger adults, suggesting a self-reference effect in person memory. Because older adults show comparable self-reference effects, but prioritize memory for positive over negative information relative to young adults, we examined age differences in self-similarity effects on memory for positive and negative impressions. Method. Younger and older adults formed positive and negative impressions of others differing in the degree of similarity to the self (high, medium, low). Results. For positive impressions, both groups showed enhanced memory for self-similar others relative to dissimilar others, whereas for negative impressions, memory was poorer for those similar to the self. When collapsed across similarity to the self, younger adults remembered negative impressions better than older adults, but interestingly, older adults exhibited a trend for better memory for the positive impressions. Discussion. Results suggest that self-reference effects in impression memory are preserved with age and that older adults exhibit positivity effects in person memory consistent with previous findings. PMID:24389124

Short-term and long-term collaboration benefits on individual recall in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Stern, Yaakov

2011-01-01

A recent study of younger adults suggests that, compared to repeated individual recall trials, repeated collaborative recall trials produce better individual recall after a short delay (Blumen & Rajaram, 2008). Our study was designed to determine if such collaboration benefits would remain after a one-week delay, in both younger and older adults. Sixty younger (M age = 24.60) and 60 older (M age = 67.35) adults studied a list of words and then completed either two collaborative recall trials followed by two individual recall trials, or four individual recall trials. A five-min delay was inserted between the first three recall trials. The fourth recall trial was administered 1 week later. Collaborative recall was completed in groups of three individuals working together. Both younger and older adults benefitted from repeated collaborative recall trials to a greater extent than repeated individual recall trials, and such collaboration benefits remained after a one-week delay. This is the first demonstration of collaboration benefits on later individual recall at delays as long as 1 week, in both younger and older adults. Findings are discussed within the context of the negative effects of collaboration associated with group memory (collaborative inhibition) and the positive effects of collaboration associated with later individual memory (collaboration benefits). PMID:21264617

Short-term and long-term collaboration benefits on individual recall in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Blumen, Helena M; Stern, Yaakov

2011-01-01

A recent study of younger adults suggests that, compared to repeated individual recall trials, repeated collaborative recall trials produce better individual recall after a short delay (Blumen & Rajaram, 2008). Our study was designed to determine if such collaboration benefits would remain after a one-week delay, in both younger and older adults. Sixty younger (M age = 24.60) and 60 older (M age = 67.35) adults studied a list of words and then completed either two collaborative recall trials followed by two individual recall trials, or four individual recall trials. A five-min delay was inserted between the first three recall trials. The fourth recall trial was administered 1 week later. Collaborative recall was completed in groups of three individuals working together. Both younger and older adults benefitted from repeated collaborative recall trials to a greater extent than repeated individual recall trials, and such collaboration benefits remained after a one-week delay. This is the first demonstration of collaboration benefits on later individual recall at delays as long as 1 week, in both younger and older adults. Findings are discussed within the context of the negative effects of collaboration associated with group memory (collaborative inhibition) and the positive effects of collaboration associated with later individual memory (collaboration benefits).

Age Differences in Attachment Orientations among Younger and Older Adults: Evidence from Two Self-Report Measures of Attachment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Segal, Daniel L.; Needham, Tracy N.; Coolidge, Frederick L.

2009-01-01

The attachment patterns of younger and older adults were studied using two-dimensional self-report measures of adult attachment. Community-dwelling younger (n = 144, M = 22.5 years, SD = 3.6) and older (n = 106, M = 68.6 years, SD = 8.3) adults completed the Measure of Attachment Qualities (MAQ; Carver, 1997) and the Relationship Style…

Emotional expressivity in older and younger adults' descriptions of personal memories.

PubMed

Schryer, Emily; Ross, Michael; St Jacques, Peggy; Levine, Brian; Fernandes, Myra

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: According to the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST; Mather & Carstensen, 2003, Psychological Sciences, 14, 409-415), aging is associated with greater motivation to regulate emotions. The authors propose that the language people use to describe personal memories provides an index of age differences in emotional self-regulation. In the present article, the authors reanalyzed three previously published studies in which older (aged 60-88) and younger (aged 17-33) participants described emotional and neutral memories from their recent and distant pasts. The authors analyzed the language of the memories using Pennebaker, Booth, and Francis's (2007) Linguistic Inquiry Word Count program (Austin, TX: LIWC Inc.), which calculates the percentage of positive and negative emotion words. In Studies 1 and 2, older adults used more positive emotion words than did younger adults to describe their autobiographical memories from the recent past, particularly when these were of a neutral valence. In Study 3, older adults used more positive emotion words when describing more recent memories (from the past 5 years) but not when describing distant childhood or adolescent memories. The authors suggest that these age differences in emotional expressivity support SST, and represent an as-yet unreported age difference that may stem from differences in motivation to regulate emotion.

The Attractiveness Halo Effect and the Babyface Stereotype in Older and Younger Adults: Similarities, Own-Age Accentuation, and OA Positivity Effects

PubMed Central

Zebrowitz, Leslie A; Franklin, Robert G.

2014-01-01

Background Two well-documented phenomena in person perception are the attractiveness halo effect (more positive impressions of more attractive people), and the babyface stereotype (more childlike impressions of more babyfaced people), shown by children, young adults (YA) and people from diverse cultures. This is the first study to systematically investigate these face stereotypes in older adults (OA) and to compare effects for younger and older adult faces. Method YA and OA judges rated competence, health, hostility, untrustworthiness, attractiveness, and babyfaceness of older and younger neutral expression faces. Multilevel modeling assessed effects of rater age and face age on appearance stereotypes. Results Like YA, OA showed both the attractiveness halo effect and the babyface stereotype. However, OA showed weaker effects of attractiveness on impressions of untrustworthiness, and only OA associated higher babyfaceness with greater competence. There also was own-age accentuation, with both OA and YA showing stronger face stereotypes for faces closer to their own age. Age differences in the strength of the stereotypes reflected an OA positivity effect shown in more influence of positive facial qualities on impressions or less influence of negative ones, rather than vice versa. Conclusions OA own-age biases, previously shown in emotion, age, and identity recognition, and OA positivity effects, previously revealed in attention, memory, and social judgments, also influence age differences in the strength and content of appearance stereotypes. Future research should assess implications of these results for age-related differences in susceptibility to appearance biases that YA have shown in socially significant domains, such as judicial and personnel decisions. PMID:24785596

Incidental Memory of Younger and Older Adults for Objects Encountered in a Real World Context

PubMed Central

Qin, Xiaoyan; Bochsler, Tiana M.; Aizpurua, Alaitz; Cheong, Allen M. Y.; Koutstaal, Wilma; Legge, Gordon E.

2014-01-01

Effects of context on the perception of, and incidental memory for, real-world objects have predominantly been investigated in younger individuals, under conditions involving a single static viewpoint. We examined the effects of prior object context and object familiarity on both older and younger adults’ incidental memory for real objects encountered while they traversed a conference room. Recognition memory for context-typical and context-atypical objects was compared with a third group of unfamiliar objects that were not readily named and that had no strongly associated context. Both older and younger adults demonstrated a typicality effect, showing significantly lower 2-alternative-forced-choice recognition of context-typical than context-atypical objects; for these objects, the recognition of older adults either significantly exceeded, or numerically surpassed, that of younger adults. Testing-awareness elevated recognition but did not interact with age or with object type. Older adults showed significantly higher recognition for context-atypical objects than for unfamiliar objects that had no prior strongly associated context. The observation of a typicality effect in both age groups is consistent with preserved semantic schemata processing in aging. The incidental recognition advantage of older over younger adults for the context-typical and context-atypical objects may reflect aging-related differences in goal-related processing, with older adults under comparatively more novel circumstances being more likely to direct their attention to the external environment, or age-related differences in top-down effortful distraction regulation, with older individuals’ attention more readily captured by salient objects in the environment. Older adults’ reduced recognition of unfamiliar objects compared to context-atypical objects may reflect possible age differences in contextually driven expectancy violations. The latter finding underscores the theoretical and

Goals-feedback conditions and episodic memory: Mechanisms for memory gains in older and younger adults.

PubMed

West, Robin L; Dark-Freudeman, Alissa; Bagwell, Dana K

2009-02-01

Research has established that challenging memory goals always lead to score increases for younger adults, and can increase older adults' scores under supportive conditions. This study examined beliefs and on-task effort as potential mechanisms for these self-regulatory gains, in particular to learn whether episodic memory gains across multiple trials of shopping list recall are controlled by the same factors for young and old people. Goals with feedback led to higher recall and strategic categorisation than a control condition. Strategy usage was the strongest predictor of gains over trials for both age groups. Age, goal condition, and effort also predicted scores across the entire sample. Older adults' gains, but not younger adults' gains, were affected significantly by the interaction of self-efficacy beliefs and goal condition, and condition interacted with locus of control to predict younger adult gains. These results emphasise the importance of self-regulatory effort and positive beliefs for facilitating goal-related memory gains.

The effects of value on context-item associative memory in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Hennessee, Joseph P; Knowlton, Barbara J; Castel, Alan D

2018-02-01

Valuable items are often remembered better than items that are less valuable by both older and younger adults, but older adults typically show deficits in binding. Here, we examine whether value affects the quality of recognition memory and the binding of incidental details to valuable items. In Experiment 1, participants learned English words each associated with a point-value they earned for correct recognition with the goal of maximizing their score. In Experiment 2, value was manipulated by presenting items that were either congruent or incongruent with an imagined state of physiological need (e.g., hunger). In Experiment 1, point-value was associated with enhanced recollection in both age groups. Memory for the color associated with the word was in fact reduced for high-value recollected items compared with low-value recollected items, suggesting value selectively enhances binding of task-relevant details. In Experiment 2, memory for learned images was enhanced by value in both age groups. However, value differentially enhanced binding of an imagined context to the item in younger and older adults, with a strong trend for increased binding in younger adults only. These findings suggest that value enhances episodic encoding in both older and younger adults but that binding of associated details may be reduced for valuable items compared to less valuable items, particularly in older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

State-based versus reward-based motivation in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Worthy, Darrell A; Cooper, Jessica A; Byrne, Kaileigh A; Gorlick, Marissa A; Maddox, W Todd

2014-12-01

Recent decision-making work has focused on a distinction between a habitual, model-free neural system that is motivated toward actions that lead directly to reward and a more computationally demanding goal-directed, model-based system that is motivated toward actions that improve one's future state. In this article, we examine how aging affects motivation toward reward-based versus state-based decision making. Participants performed tasks in which one type of option provided larger immediate rewards but the alternative type of option led to larger rewards on future trials, or improvements in state. We predicted that older adults would show a reduced preference for choices that led to improvements in state and a greater preference for choices that maximized immediate reward. We also predicted that fits from a hybrid reinforcement-learning model would indicate greater model-based strategy use in younger than in older adults. In line with these predictions, older adults selected the options that maximized reward more often than did younger adults in three of the four tasks, and modeling results suggested reduced model-based strategy use. In the task where older adults showed similar behavior to younger adults, our model-fitting results suggested that this was due to the utilization of a win-stay-lose-shift heuristic rather than a more complex model-based strategy. Additionally, within older adults, we found that model-based strategy use was positively correlated with memory measures from our neuropsychological test battery. We suggest that this shift from state-based to reward-based motivation may be due to age related declines in the neural structures needed for more computationally demanding model-based decision making.

Younger and older adults' associative memory for social information: The role of information importance.

PubMed

Hargis, Mary B; Castel, Alan D

2017-06-01

The ability to associate items in memory is critical for social interactions. Older adults show deficits in remembering associative information but can sometimes remember high-value information. In two experiments, younger and older participants studied faces, names, and occupations that were of differing social value. There were no age differences in the recall of important information in Experiment 1, but age differences were present for less important information. In Experiment 2, when younger adults' encoding time was reduced, age differences were largely absent. These findings are considered in light of value-directed strategies when remembering social associative information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Social Engagement and Health in Younger, Older, and Oldest-Old Adults in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS)

PubMed Central

Cherry, Katie E.; Walker, Erin Jackson; Brown, Jennifer Silva; Volaufova, Julia; LaMotte, Lynn R.; Welsh, David A.; Su, L. Joseph; Jazwinski, S. Michal; Ellis, Rebecca; Wood, Robert H.; Frisard, Madlyn I.

2013-01-01

Social support has been shown to influence health outcomes in later life. In this study, we focus on social engagement as an umbrella construct that covers select social behaviors in a lifespan sample that included oldest-old adults, a segment of the adult population for whom very little data currently exist. We examined relationships among social engagement, positive health behaviors, and physical health to provide new evidence that addresses gaps in the extant literature concerning social engagement and healthy aging in very old adults. Participants were younger (21–59 years), older (60–89 years), and oldest-old (90–97 years) adults (N = 364) in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS). Linear regression analyses indicated that age, gender, and hours spent outside of the house were significantly associated with self-reported health. The number of clubs and hours outside of home were more important factors in the analyses of objective health status than positive health behaviors, after considering age group and education level. These data strongly suggest that social engagement remains an important determinant of physical health into very late adulthood. The discussion focuses on practical applications of these results including social support interventions to maintain or improve late life health. PMID:23526628

Postural adjustment errors during lateral step initiation in older and younger adults

PubMed Central

Sparto, Patrick J.; Fuhrman, Susan I.; Redfern, Mark S.; Perera, Subashan; Jennings, J. Richard; Furman, Joseph M.

2016-01-01

The purpose was to examine age differences and varying levels of step response inhibition on the performance of a voluntary lateral step initiation task. Seventy older adults (70 – 94 y) and twenty younger adults (21 – 58 y) performed visually-cued step initiation conditions based on direction and spatial location of arrows, ranging from a simple choice reaction time task to a perceptual inhibition task that included incongruous cues about which direction to step (e.g. a left pointing arrow appearing on the right side of a monitor). Evidence of postural adjustment errors and step latencies were recorded from vertical ground reaction forces exerted by the stepping leg. Compared with younger adults, older adults demonstrated greater variability in step behavior, generated more postural adjustment errors during conditions requiring inhibition, and had greater step initiation latencies that increased more than younger adults as the inhibition requirements of the condition became greater. Step task performance was related to clinical balance test performance more than executive function task performance. PMID:25595953

Postural adjustment errors during lateral step initiation in older and younger adults

PubMed Central

Sparto, Patrick J.; Fuhrman, Susan I.; Redfern, Mark S.; Perera, Subashan; Jennings, J. Richard; Furman, Joseph M.

2014-01-01

The purpose was to examine age differences and varying levels of step response inhibition on the performance of a voluntary lateral step initiation task. Seventy older adults (70 – 94 y) and twenty younger adults (21 – 58 y) performed visually-cued step initiation conditions based on direction and spatial location of arrows, ranging from a simple choice reaction time task to a perceptual inhibition task that included incongruous cues about which direction to step (e.g. a left pointing arrow appearing on the right side of a monitor). Evidence of postural adjustment errors and step latencies were recorded from vertical ground reaction forces exerted by the stepping leg. Compared with younger adults, older adults demonstrated greater variability in step behavior, generated more postural adjustment errors during conditions requiring inhibition, and had greater step initiation latencies that increased more than younger adults as the inhibition requirements of the condition became greater. Step task performance was related to clinical balance test performance more than executive function task performance. PMID:25183162

Age-related differences in brain electrical activity during extended continuous face recognition in younger children, older children and adults.

PubMed

Van Strien, Jan W; Glimmerveen, Johanna C; Franken, Ingmar H A; Martens, Vanessa E G; de Bruin, Eveline A

2011-09-01

To examine the development of recognition memory in primary-school children, 36 healthy younger children (8-9 years old) and 36 healthy older children (11-12 years old) participated in an ERP study with an extended continuous face recognition task (Study 1). Each face of a series of 30 faces was shown randomly six times interspersed with distracter faces. The children were required to make old vs. new decisions. Older children responded faster than younger children, but younger children exhibited a steeper decrease in latencies across the five repetitions. Older children exhibited better accuracy for new faces, but there were no age differences in recognition accuracy for repeated faces. For the N2, N400 and late positive complex (LPC), we analyzed the old/new effects (repetition 1 vs. new presentation) and the extended repetition effects (repetitions 1 through 5). Compared to older children, younger children exhibited larger frontocentral N2 and N400 old/new effects. For extended face repetitions, negativity of the N2 and N400 decreased in a linear fashion in both age groups. For the LPC, an ERP component thought to reflect recollection, no significant old/new or extended repetition effects were found. Employing the same face recognition paradigm in 20 adults (Study 2), we found a significant N400 old/new effect at lateral frontal sites and a significant LPC repetition effect at parietal sites, with LPC amplitudes increasing linearly with the number of repetitions. This study clearly demonstrates differential developmental courses for the N400 and LPC pertaining to recognition memory for faces. It is concluded that face recognition in children is mediated by early and probably more automatic than conscious recognition processes. In adults, the LPC extended repetition effect indicates that adult face recognition memory is related to a conscious and graded recollection process rather than to an automatic recognition process. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Cardiovascular reactivity of younger and older adults to positive-, negative-, and mixed-emotion cognitive challenge.

PubMed

Hogan, Michael J; James, Jack E; McCabe, Tadhg R; Kilmartin, Liam; Howard, Siobhán; Noone, Chris

2012-03-01

Although aging is associated with progressive increases in blood pressure level, previous research has been inconsistent as to whether older adults show greater or lesser cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) to emotion than do younger adults. There is reason to believe that these inconsistencies could be clarified by examining age-related differences in hemodynamic profile revealed by measuring the pattern of cardiac output and total peripheral resistance associated with changes in blood pressure reactivity. Accordingly, the present study examined the performance, CVR, and hemodynamic profile of younger and older adults during encoding and recognition of word pairs involving four valence types: positive, negative, mixed (positive/negative), and neutral word pairs. Results revealed higher baseline blood pressure, increased CVR characterized by a vascular hemodynamic profile, and more rapid recovery (especially during encoding) for older than for younger participants. Results are discussed in light of research and theory on the relationship between aging and cardiovascular health. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Item Response Theory Analysis of DSM–IV Personality Disorder Criteria Across Younger and Older Age Groups

PubMed Central

Balsis, Steve; Gleason, Marci E. J.; Woods, Carol M.; Oltmanns, Thomas F.

2015-01-01

Many of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM–IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) personality disorder (PD) diagnostic criteria focus on a younger social and occupational context. The absence of age-appropriate criteria for older adults forces researchers and clinicians to draw conclusions based on existing criteria, which are likely inadequate. To explore which DSM–IV PD criteria contain age group measurement bias, the authors report 2 analyses of data on nearly 37,000 participants, ages 18–98 years, taken from a public data set that includes 7 of the 10 PDs (antisocial, avoidant, dependent, histrionic, obsessive–compulsive, paranoid, and schizoid). The 1st analysis revealed that older age groups tend to endorse fewer PD criteria than younger age groups. The 2nd analysis revealed that 29% of the criteria contain measurement bias. Although the latent variable structure for each PD was quite similar across younger and older age groups, some individual criteria were differentially endorsed by younger and older adults with equivalent PD pathology. The presence of measurement bias for these criteria raises questions concerning the assessment of PDs in older adults and the interpretation of existing data. PMID:17385993

Screening for Dyslipidemia in Younger Adults: A Systematic Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

PubMed

Chou, Roger; Dana, Tracy; Blazina, Ian; Daeges, Monica; Bougatsos, Christina; Jeanne, Thomas L

2016-10-18

Dyslipidemia may occur in younger adults (defined as persons aged 21 to 39 years) and is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Screening might identify younger adults with asymptomatic dyslipidemia who may benefit from lipid-lowering therapies. To update the 2008 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force review on dyslipidemia screening in younger adults. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and MEDLINE through May 2016, and reference lists. Randomized, controlled trials; cohort studies; and case-control studies on screening for or treatment of asymptomatic dyslipidemia in adults aged 21 to 39 years. The plan was for 1 investigator to abstract data and a second to check their accuracy, and for 2 investigators to independently assess study quality; however, no studies met the inclusion criteria. No study evaluated the effects of lipid screening versus no screening, treatment versus no treatment, or delayed versus earlier treatment on clinical outcomes in younger adults. In addition, no study evaluated the diagnostic yield of alternative screening strategies (such as targeted screening of persons with a family history of hyperlipidemia vs. general screening) in younger adults. No direct relevant evidence. Direct evidence on the benefits and harms of screening for or treatment of dyslipidemia in younger adults remains unavailable. Estimating the potential effects of screening for dyslipidemia in this population requires extrapolation from studies performed in older adults. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Movement Skills of Younger versus Older Adults with and without Down Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carmeli, Eli; Ariav, Claudette; Bar-Yossef, Tamar; Levy, Ran; Imam, Bita

2012-01-01

Adults with Down syndrome (DS) are often physically inactive, which may accelerate the onset of disease and aging symptoms. Eight older persons with DS (aged 54-61), and 10 younger persons with DS (aged 26-35) living in a residential care center were examined. Eighteen age- and gender-matched individuals without DS served as control groups.…

How retellings shape younger and older adults' memories.

PubMed

Barber, Sarah J; Mather, Mara

2014-04-01

The way a story is retold influences the way it is later remembered; after retelling an event in a biased manner people subsequently remember the event in line with their distorted retelling. This study tested the hypothesis that this should be especially true for older adults. To test this, older and younger adults retold a story to be entertaining, to be accurate, or did not complete an initial retelling. Later, all participants recalled the story as accurately as possible. On this final test younger adults were unaffected by how they had previously retold the story. In contrast, older adults had better memory for the story's content and structure if they had previously retold the story accurately. Furthermore, for older adults, greater usage of storytelling language during the retelling was associated with lower subsequent recall. In summary, retellings exerted a greater effect on memory in older, compared with younger, adults.

Similarity-based interference in a working memory numerical updating task: age-related differences between younger and older adults.

PubMed

Pelegrina, Santiago; Borella, Erika; Carretti, Barbara; Lechuga, M Teresa

2012-01-01

Similarity among representations held simultaneously in working memory (WM) is a factor which increases interference and hinders performance. The aim of the current study was to investigate age-related differences between younger and older adults in a working memory numerical updating task, in which the similarity between information held in WM was manipulated. Results showed a higher susceptibility of older adults to similarity-based interference when accuracy, and not response times, was considered. It was concluded that older adults' WM difficulties appear to be due to the availability of stored information, which, in turn, might be related to the ability to generate distinctive representations and to the process of binding such representations to their context when similar information has to be processed in WM.

Reflections of distraction in memory: transfer of previous distraction improves recall in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Thomas, Ruthann C; Hasher, Lynn

2012-01-01

Three studies explored whether younger and older adults' free recall performance can benefit from prior exposure to distraction that becomes relevant in a memory task. Participants initially read stories that included distracting text. Later, they studied a list of words for free recall, with half of the list consisting of previously distracting words. When the memory task was indirect in its use of distraction (Study 1), only older adults showed transfer, with better recall of previously distracting compared with new words, which increased their recall to match that of younger adults. However, younger adults showed transfer when cued about the relevance of previous distraction both before studying the words (Study 2) and before recalling the words (Study 3) in the memory test. Results suggest that both younger and older adults encode distraction, but younger adults require explicit cueing to use their knowledge of distraction. In contrast, older adults transfer knowledge of distraction in both explicitly cued and indirect memory tasks. Results are discussed in terms of age differences in inhibition and source-constrained retrieval.

Clear speech and lexical competition in younger and older adult listeners.

PubMed

Van Engen, Kristin J

2017-08-01

This study investigated whether clear speech reduces the cognitive demands of lexical competition by crossing speaking style with lexical difficulty. Younger and older adults identified more words in clear versus conversational speech and more easy words than hard words. An initial analysis suggested that the effect of lexical difficulty was reduced in clear speech, but more detailed analyses within each age group showed this interaction was significant only for older adults. The results also showed that both groups improved over the course of the task and that clear speech was particularly helpful for individuals with poorer hearing: for younger adults, clear speech eliminated hearing-related differences that affected performance on conversational speech. For older adults, clear speech was generally more helpful to listeners with poorer hearing. These results suggest that clear speech affords perceptual benefits to all listeners and, for older adults, mitigates the cognitive challenge associated with identifying words with many phonological neighbors.

How Arousal Affects Younger and Older Adults' Memory Binding

PubMed Central

Nashiro, Kaoru; Mather, Mara

2009-01-01

A number of recent studies have shown that associative memory for within-item features is enhanced for emotionally arousing items, whereas arousal-enhanced binding is not seen for associations between distinct items (for a review see Mather, 2007). The costs and benefits of arousal in memory binding have been examined for younger adults but not for older adults. The present experiment examined whether arousal would enhance younger and older adults' within-item and between-item memory binding. The results revealed that arousal improved younger adults' within-item memory binding but not that of older adults. Arousal worsened both groups' between-item memory binding. PMID:21240821

How arousal affects younger and older adults' memory binding.

PubMed

Nashiro, Kaoru; Mather, Mara

2011-01-01

A number of recent studies have shown that associative memory for within-item features is enhanced for emotionally arousing items, whereas arousal-enhanced binding is not seen for associations between distinct items (for a review, see Mather, 2007, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 33-52). The costs and benefits of arousal in memory binding have been examined for younger adults but not for older adults. The present experiment examined whether arousal would enhance younger and older adults' within-item and between-item memory binding. The results revealed that arousal improved younger adults' within-item memory binding but not that of older adults. Arousal worsened both groups' between-item memory binding.

Binaural Advantage for Younger and Older Adults with Normal Hearing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dubno, Judy R.; Ahlstrom, Jayne B.; Horwitz, Amy R.

2008-01-01

Purpose: Three experiments measured benefit of spatial separation, benefit of binaural listening, and masking-level differences (MLDs) to assess age-related differences in binaural advantage. Method: Participants were younger and older adults with normal hearing through 4.0 kHz. Experiment 1 compared spatial benefit with and without head shadow.…

Exploration of older and younger British adults' performance on The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT).

PubMed

Burdon, Paul; Dipper, Lucy; Cocks, Naomi

2016-09-01

Social perception is an important skill. One assessment that is commonly used to assess social perception abilities is The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT). The only normative data available for this test are for Australian younger adults. Despite no normative data being available for British adults, the test is widely used in the UK with older and younger adults. There is a growing body of research that suggests that older adults have difficulty with skills associated with social perception. There is therefore a need to determine whether British adults, and more specifically British older adults, perform similarly to the Australian normative TASIT scores available in the manual. To explore the differences between older and younger British adults' performance on TASIT, and to determine whether younger and older British adults perform similarly to the data from Australian adults in TASIT manual. TASIT was administered to a total of 42 native British English speaking participants. The participants were split into two age groups 18-45 and 60-90 years. Comparisons were made between the two groups and the Australian data in TASIT manual. The younger British and Australian adults obtained similar scores on all parts of TASIT. The older British adults though, obtained significantly lower scores than the Australian younger adults on all parts of TASIT and when education was controlled for they obtained significantly lower scores than the British younger adults. The findings are discussed in the light of previous research that has found that older adults are worse than younger adults at social inferences. The findings of the current study suggest that caution should be used when using TASIT with older British adults to assess social perception abilities. © 2016 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Superior Recognition Performance for Happy Masked and Unmasked Faces in Both Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Svärd, Joakim; Wiens, Stefan; Fischer, Håkan

2012-01-01

In the aging literature it has been shown that even though emotion recognition performance decreases with age, the decrease is less for happiness than other facial expressions. Studies in younger adults have also revealed that happy faces are more strongly attended to and better recognized than other emotional facial expressions. Thus, there might be a more age independent happy face advantage in facial expression recognition. By using a backward masking paradigm and varying stimulus onset asynchronies (17–267 ms) the temporal development of a happy face advantage, on a continuum from low to high levels of visibility, was examined in younger and older adults. Results showed that across age groups, recognition performance for happy faces was better than for neutral and fearful faces at durations longer than 50 ms. Importantly, the results showed a happy face advantage already during early processing of emotional faces in both younger and older adults. This advantage is discussed in terms of processing of salient perceptual features and elaborative processing of the happy face. We also investigate the combined effect of age and neuroticism on emotional face processing. The rationale was previous findings of age-related differences in physiological arousal to emotional pictures and a relation between arousal and neuroticism. Across all durations, there was an interaction between age and neuroticism, showing that being high in neuroticism might be disadvantageous for younger, but not older adults’ emotion recognition performance during arousal enhancing tasks. These results indicate that there is a relation between aging, neuroticism, and performance, potentially related to physiological arousal. PMID:23226135

Attitudinal and Intentional Acceptance of Domestic Robots by Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Ezer, Neta; Fisk, Arthur D.; Rogers, Wendy A.

2014-01-01

A study was conducted to examine the expectations that younger and older individuals have about domestic robots and how these expectations relate to robot acceptance. In a questionnaire participants were asked to imagine a robot in their home and to indicate how much items representing technology, social partner, and teammate acceptance matched their robot. There were additional questions about how useful and easy to use they thought their robot would be. The dependent variables were attitudinal and intentional acceptance. The analysis of the responses of 117 older adults (aged 65–86) and 60 younger adults (aged 18–25) indicated that individuals thought of robots foremost as performance-directed machines, less so as social devices, and least as unproductive entities. The robustness of the Technology Acceptance Model to robot acceptance was supported. Technology experience accounted for the variance in robot acceptance due to age. PMID:25584365

The Influence of Emotional Material on Encoding and Retrieving Intentions: An ERP Study in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Hering, Alexandra; Kliegel, Matthias; Bisiacchi, Patrizia S.; Cona, Giorgia

2018-01-01

Prospective memory is a cognitive process that comprises the encoding and maintenance of an intention until the appropriate moment of its retrieval. It is of highly relevance for an independent everyday life, especially in older adults; however, there is ample evidence that prospective memory declines with increasing age. Because most studies have used neutral stimuli, it is still an open question how emotional factors influence age-related differences in prospective remembering. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of emotional material on prospective memory encoding, monitoring, maintaining, and retrieval in younger and older adults using behavioral and electrophysiological measures. We tested 24 younger adults (M = 26.4 years) and 20 older adults (M = 68.1 years) using a picture one-back task as ongoing activity with an embedded prospective memory instruction. The experimental task consisted of three sessions. In each session, participants had to encode series of images that represented the prospective memory cues for the consecutive block. The images were either of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral valence. The pictures used in the ongoing task were likewise of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral valence. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to assess the neural correlates of intention encoding, maintenance, and self-initiated retrieval. We did not find age differences between younger and older adults on the behavioral level. However, the ERP results revealed an interesting pattern that suggested for both age groups elevated attentional processing of emotional cues during encoding indicated by an elevated LPP for the emotional cues. Additionally, younger adults showed increased activity for unpleasant cues. During the maintenance phase, both age groups engaged in strategic monitoring especially for pleasant cues, which led to enhanced sustained positivity. During retrieval, older adults showed increased activity of ERP components related

Reflections of Distraction in Memory: Transfer of Previous Distraction Improves Recall in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Thomas, Ruthann C.; Hasher, Lynn

2012-01-01

Three studies explored whether younger and older adults’ free recall performance can benefit from prior exposure to distraction that becomes relevant in a memory task. Participants initially read stories that included distracting text. Later, they studied a list of words for free recall, with half of the list consisting of previously distracting words. When the memory task was indirect in its use of distraction (Study 1), only older adults showed transfer, with better recall of previously distracting compared with new words, which increased their recall to match that of younger adults. However, younger adults showed transfer when cued about the relevance of previous distraction both before studying the words (Study 2) and before recalling the words (Study 3) in the memory test. Results suggest that both younger and older adults encode distraction, but younger adults require explicit cueing to use their knowledge of distraction. In contrast, older adults transfer knowledge of distraction in both explicitly cued and indirect memory tasks. Results are discussed in terms of age differences in inhibition and source-constrained retrieval. PMID:21843024

Attenuated audiovisual integration in middle-aged adults in a discrimination task.

PubMed

Yang, Weiping; Ren, Yanna

2018-02-01

Numerous studies have focused on the diversity of audiovisual integration between younger and older adults. However, consecutive trends in audiovisual integration throughout life are still unclear. In the present study, to clarify audiovisual integration characteristics in middle-aged adults, we instructed younger and middle-aged adults to conduct an auditory/visual stimuli discrimination experiment. Randomized streams of unimodal auditory (A), unimodal visual (V) or audiovisual stimuli were presented on the left or right hemispace of the central fixation point, and subjects were instructed to respond to the target stimuli rapidly and accurately. Our results demonstrated that the responses of middle-aged adults to all unimodal and bimodal stimuli were significantly slower than those of younger adults (p < 0.05). Audiovisual integration was markedly delayed (onset time 360 ms) and weaker (peak 3.97%) in middle-aged adults than in younger adults (onset time 260 ms, peak 11.86%). The results suggested that audiovisual integration was attenuated in middle-aged adults and further confirmed age-related decline in information processing.

The Effects of Feedback on Memory Strategies of Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Zhang, Fan; Zhang, Xin; Luo, Meng; Geng, Haiyan

2016-01-01

Existing literature suggests that feedback could effectively reduce false memories in younger adults. However, it is unclear whether memory performance in older adults also might be affected by feedback. The current study tested the hypothesis that older adults can use immediate feedback to adjust their memory strategy, similar to younger adults, but after feedback is removed, older adults may not be able to maintain using the memory strategy. Older adults will display more false memories than younger adults due to a reduction in attentional resources. In Study 1, both younger and older adults adjusted gist processing and item-specific processing biases based on the feedback given (i.e., biased and objective feedback). In Study 2 after the feedback was removed, only younger adults with full attention were able to maintain the feedback-shaped memory strategy; whereas, both younger adults with divided attention and older adults had increased false memories after feedback was removed. The findings suggest that environmental support helps older adults as well as younger adults to adopt a memory strategy that demands high attentional resources, but when the support is removed, older adults can no longer maintain such a strategy. PMID:28033327

The Effects of Feedback on Memory Strategies of Younger and Older Adults.

PubMed

Zhang, Fan; Zhang, Xin; Luo, Meng; Geng, Haiyan

2016-01-01

Existing literature suggests that feedback could effectively reduce false memories in younger adults. However, it is unclear whether memory performance in older adults also might be affected by feedback. The current study tested the hypothesis that older adults can use immediate feedback to adjust their memory strategy, similar to younger adults, but after feedback is removed, older adults may not be able to maintain using the memory strategy. Older adults will display more false memories than younger adults due to a reduction in attentional resources. In Study 1, both younger and older adults adjusted gist processing and item-specific processing biases based on the feedback given (i.e., biased and objective feedback). In Study 2 after the feedback was removed, only younger adults with full attention were able to maintain the feedback-shaped memory strategy; whereas, both younger adults with divided attention and older adults had increased false memories after feedback was removed. The findings suggest that environmental support helps older adults as well as younger adults to adopt a memory strategy that demands high attentional resources, but when the support is removed, older adults can no longer maintain such a strategy.

The Effects of Prior Exposure on Face Processing in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Heisz, Jennifer J.; Ryan, Jennifer D.

2011-01-01

Older adults differ from their younger counterparts in the way they view faces. We assessed whether older adults can use past experience to mitigate these typical face-processing differences; that is, we examined whether there are age-related differences in the use of memory to support current processing. Eye movements of older and younger adults were monitored as they viewed faces that varied in the type/amount of prior exposure. Prior exposure was manipulated by including famous and novel faces, and by presenting faces up to five times. We expected that older adults may have difficulty quickly establishing new representations to aid in the processing of recently presented faces, but would be able to invoke face representations that have been stored in memory long ago to aid in the processing of famous faces. Indeed, younger adults displayed effects of recent exposure with a decrease in the total fixations to the faces and a gradual increase in the proportion of fixations to the eyes. These effects of recent exposure were largely absent in older adults. In contrast, the effect of fame, revealed by a subtle increase in fixations to the inner features of famous compared to non-famous faces, was similar for younger and older adults. Our results suggest that older adults’ current processing can benefit from lifetime experience, however the full benefit of recent experience on face processing is not realized in older adults. PMID:22007169

Comparing daily drivers of problem drinking among older and younger adults: An electronic daily diary study using smartphones.

PubMed

Kuerbis, Alexis; Treloar Padovano, Hayley; Shao, Sijing; Houser, Jessica; Muench, Frederick J; Morgenstern, Jon

2018-02-01

By 2030, numbers and proportions of older adults with substance-use problems are expected to increase. While risk factors for problem drinking in late life have been identified, it remains unknown whether these factors drive daily drinking among older problem drinkers. This study examined the daily drivers of drinking among problem drinkers, moderated by age, utilizing ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants (N = 139), ages 20-73, received daily EMA online surveys completed via a smartphone prior to initiation of treatment. Multilevel modeling tested the moderating impact of age on within- and between-person relationships between drinking and focal predictors (mood, loneliness, boredom, stress, poor sleep, social factors, alcohol salience, commitment and confidence not to drink heavily). Older adults reported greater alcohol consumption when daily boredom levels were higher. Heavier drinking among younger adults was associated with poorer sleep quality. Greater daily confidence, daily commitment and daily alcohol salience did not impact drinking to the same extent for older adults as for younger adults. Greater person-level commitment predicted reduced drinking equivalently across age, but low person-level commitment predicted greater drinking among older adults compared to their younger counterparts. Older adults may have unique daily drivers of drinking that are not fully realized in current research and intervention efforts. Addressing the growing substance-use treatment needs among this population will require identifying the unique drivers of drinking among older adults, such as boredom, when compared to younger adults. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phoneme categorization and discrimination in younger and older adults: a comparative analysis of perceptual, lexical, and attentional factors.

PubMed

Mattys, Sven L; Scharenborg, Odette

2014-03-01

This study investigates the extent to which age-related language processing difficulties are due to a decline in sensory processes or to a deterioration of cognitive factors, specifically, attentional control. Two facets of attentional control were examined: inhibition of irrelevant information and divided attention. Younger and older adults were asked to categorize the initial phoneme of spoken syllables ("Was it m or n?"), trying to ignore the lexical status of the syllables. The phonemes were manipulated to range in eight steps from m to n. Participants also did a discrimination task on syllable pairs ("Were the initial sounds the same or different?"). Categorization and discrimination were performed under either divided attention (concurrent visual-search task) or focused attention (no visual task). The results showed that even when the younger and older adults were matched on their discrimination scores: (1) the older adults had more difficulty inhibiting lexical knowledge than did younger adults, (2) divided attention weakened lexical inhibition in both younger and older adults, and (3) divided attention impaired sound discrimination more in older than younger listeners. The results confirm the independent and combined contribution of sensory decline and deficit in attentional control to language processing difficulties associated with aging. The relative weight of these variables and their mechanisms of action are discussed in the context of theories of aging and language. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Characteristics of Emergency Department Visits by Older Versus Younger Homeless Adults in the United States

PubMed Central

Steinman, Michael A.

2013-01-01

Objectives. We compared the characteristics of emergency department (ED) visits of older versus younger homeless adults. Methods. We analyzed 2005–2009 data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a nationally representative survey of visits to hospitals and EDs, and used sampling weights, strata, and clustering variables to obtain nationally representative estimates. Results. The ED visits of homeless adults aged 50 years and older accounted for 36% of annual visits by homeless patients. Although demographic characteristics of ED visits were similar in older and younger homeless adults, clinical and health services characteristics differed. Older homeless adults had fewer discharge diagnoses related to psychiatric conditions (10% vs 20%; P = .002) and drug abuse (7% vs 15%; P = .003) but more diagnoses related to alcohol abuse (31% vs 23%; P = .03) and were more likely to arrive by ambulance (48% vs 36%; P = .02) and to be admitted to the hospital (20% vs 11%; P = .003). Conclusions. Older homeless adults’ patterns of ED care differ from those of younger homeless adults. Health care systems need to account for these differences to meet the needs of the aging homeless population. PMID:23597348

Thirst for knowledge: The effects of curiosity and interest on memory in younger and older adults.

PubMed

McGillivray, Shannon; Murayama, Kou; Castel, Alan D

2015-12-01

Given age-related memory impairments, one's level of curiosity or interest could enhance memory for certain information. In the current study, younger and older adults read trivia questions, rated how curious they were to learn each answer, provided confidence and interest ratings, and judgments of learning after learning the answer. No age-related differences in memory were found. Analyses indicated that curiosity and interest contributed to the formation of judgments of learning. Additionally, interest had a unique increasing relationship with older, but not younger, adults' memory performance after a one-week delay. The results suggest that subjective interest may serve to enhance older adults' memory. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Intelligibility of emotional speech in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Dupuis, Kate; Pichora-Fuller, M Kathleen

2014-01-01

Little is known about the influence of vocal emotions on speech understanding. Word recognition accuracy for stimuli spoken to portray seven emotions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, neutral, happiness, and pleasant surprise) was tested in younger and older listeners. Emotions were presented in either mixed (heterogeneous emotions mixed in a list) or blocked (homogeneous emotion blocked in a list) conditions. Three main hypotheses were tested. First, vocal emotion affects word recognition accuracy; specifically, portrayals of fear enhance word recognition accuracy because listeners orient to threatening information and/or distinctive acoustical cues such as high pitch mean and variation. Second, older listeners recognize words less accurately than younger listeners, but the effects of different emotions on intelligibility are similar across age groups. Third, blocking emotions in list results in better word recognition accuracy, especially for older listeners, and reduces the effect of emotion on intelligibility because as listeners develop expectations about vocal emotion, the allocation of processing resources can shift from emotional to lexical processing. Emotion was the within-subjects variable: all participants heard speech stimuli consisting of a carrier phrase followed by a target word spoken by either a younger or an older talker, with an equal number of stimuli portraying each of seven vocal emotions. The speech was presented in multi-talker babble at signal to noise ratios adjusted for each talker and each listener age group. Listener age (younger, older), condition (mixed, blocked), and talker (younger, older) were the main between-subjects variables. Fifty-six students (Mage= 18.3 years) were recruited from an undergraduate psychology course; 56 older adults (Mage= 72.3 years) were recruited from a volunteer pool. All participants had clinically normal pure-tone audiometric thresholds at frequencies ≤3000 Hz. There were significant main effects of

The Accuracy of Older and Younger Australians' Understanding of Mental Health and Aging.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.

1993-01-01

Administered quiz about positive and negative aspects of mental health in old age to 250 Australian adults (ages 17-81). Retirees scored lowest, with no significant differences among younger students versus nonstudents. Age was more important mediator of retirees' low scores than was gender, living with older person, or self-definition as retired.…

Dissociative Global and Local Task-Switching Costs Across Younger Adults, Middle-Aged Adults, Older Adults, and Very Mild Alzheimer Disease Individuals

PubMed Central

Huff, Mark J.; Balota, David A.; Minear, Meredith; Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; Duchek, Janet M.

2015-01-01

A task-switching paradigm was used to examine differences in attentional control across younger adults, middle-aged adults, healthy older adults, and individuals classified in the earliest detectable stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A large sample of participants (570) completed a switching task in which participants were cued to classify the letter (consonant/vowel) or number (odd/even) task-set dimension of a bivalent stimulus (e.g., A 14), respectively. A Pure block consisting of single-task trials and a Switch block consisting of nonswitch and switch trials were completed. Local (switch vs. nonswitch trials) and global (nonswitch vs. pure trials) costs in mean error rates, mean response latencies, underlying reaction time distributions, along with stimulus-response congruency effects were computed. Local costs in errors were group invariant, but global costs in errors systematically increased as a function of age and AD. Response latencies yielded a strong dissociation: Local costs decreased across groups whereas global costs increased across groups. Vincentile distribution analyses revealed that the dissociation of local and global costs primarily occurred in the slowest response latencies. Stimulus-response congruency effects within the Switch block were particularly robust in accuracy in the very mild AD group. We argue that the results are consistent with the notion that the impaired groups show a reduced local cost because the task sets are not as well tuned, and hence produce minimal cost on switch trials. In contrast, global costs increase because of the additional burden on working memory of maintaining two task sets. PMID:26652720

The Impact of Age Stereotypes on Self-perceptions of Aging Across the Adult Lifespan

PubMed Central

Hess, Thomas M.

2012-01-01

Objectives. Individuals’ perceptions of their own age(ing) are important correlates of well-being and health. The goals of the present study were to (a) examine indicators of self-perceptions of aging across adulthood and (b) experimentally test whether age stereotypes influence self-perceptions of aging. Method. Adults 18–92 years of age were presented with positive, negative, or no age stereotypes. Before and after the stereotype activation, aging satisfaction and subjective age were measured. Results. The activation of positive age stereotypes did not positively influence self-perceptions of aging. Quite the contrary, priming middle-aged and older adults in good health with positive age stereotypes made them feel older. After the activation of negative age stereotypes, older adults in good health felt older and those in bad health wanted to be younger than before the priming. Even younger and middle-aged adults reported younger desired ages after the negative age stereotype priming. Persons in bad health also thought they looked older after being primed with negative age stereotypes. Discussion. Taken together, although we find some support for contrast effects, most of our results can be interpreted in terms of assimilation effects, suggesting that individuals integrate stereotypical information into their self-evaluations of age(ing) when confronted with stereotypes. PMID:22367710

APOE ε4 associated with preserved executive function performance and maintenance of temporal and cingulate brain volumes in younger adults

PubMed Central

Taylor, Warren D.; Boyd, Brian; Turner, Rachel; McQuoid, Douglas R.; Ashley-Koch, Allison; MacFall, James R.; Saleh, Ayman; Potter, Guy G.

2016-01-01

The APOE ε4 allele is associated with cognitive deficits and brain atrophy in older adults, but studies in younger adults are mixed. We examined APOE genotype effects on cognition and brain structure in younger adults and whether genotype effects differed by age and with presence of depression. 157 adults (32% ε4 carriers, 46% depressed) between 20–50 years of age completed neuropsychological testing, 131 of which also completed 3T cranial MRI. We did not observe a direct effect of APOE genotype on cognitive performance or structural MRI measures. A significant genotype by age interaction was observed for executive function, where age had less of an effect on executive function in ε4 carriers. Similar interactions were observed for the entorhinal cortex, rostral and caudal anterior cingulate cortex and parahippocampal gyrus, where the effect of age on regional volumes was reduced in ε4 carriers. There were no significant interactions between APOE genotype and depression diagnosis. The ε4 allele benefits younger adults by allowing them to maintain executive function performance and volumes of cingulate and temporal cortex regions with aging, at least through age fifty years. PMID:26843007

Saving the best for last: how adults treat social partners of different ages.

PubMed

Fingerman, Karen L; Miller, Laura; Charles, Susan

2008-06-01

Older adults report more positive feelings and fewer problems in their relationships than do younger adults. These positive experiences may partially reflect how people treat older adults. Social partners may treat older adults more kindly due to their sense that time remaining to interact with these older adults is limited. Younger (n = 87, age 22 to 35) and older (n = 89, age 65 to 77) participants indicated how positively they would behave (i.e., express affection, proffer respect, send sentimental cards) and what types of conflict strategies they would use in response to hypothetical negative interactions with two close social partners, a younger adult and an older adult. Multilevel models revealed that participants were more avoidant and less confrontational when interacting with older adults than when interacting with younger adults. Time perspective of the relationship partially mediated these age differences. Younger and older participants were also more likely to select sentimental cards for older partners than for younger partners. Findings build on socioemotional selectivity theory and the social input model to suggest that social partners facilitate better relationships in late life.

Comparison for younger and older adults: Stimulus temporal asynchrony modulates audiovisual integration.

PubMed

Ren, Yanna; Ren, Yanling; Yang, Weiping; Tang, Xiaoyu; Wu, Fengxia; Wu, Qiong; Takahashi, Satoshi; Ejima, Yoshimichi; Wu, Jinglong

2018-02-01

Recent research has shown that the magnitudes of responses to multisensory information are highly dependent on the stimulus structure. The temporal proximity of multiple signal inputs is a critical determinant for cross-modal integration. Here, we investigated the influence that temporal asynchrony has on audiovisual integration in both younger and older adults using event-related potentials (ERP). Our results showed that in the simultaneous audiovisual condition, except for the earliest integration (80-110ms), which occurred in the occipital region for older adults was absent for younger adults, early integration was similar for the younger and older groups. Additionally, late integration was delayed in older adults (280-300ms) compared to younger adults (210-240ms). In audition‑leading vision conditions, the earliest integration (80-110ms) was absent in younger adults but did occur in older adults. Additionally, after increasing the temporal disparity from 50ms to 100ms, late integration was delayed in both younger (from 230 to 290ms to 280-300ms) and older (from 210 to 240ms to 280-300ms) adults. In the audition-lagging vision conditions, integration only occurred in the A100V condition for younger adults and in the A50V condition for older adults. The current results suggested that the audiovisual temporal integration pattern differed between the audition‑leading and audition-lagging vision conditions and further revealed the varying effect of temporal asynchrony on audiovisual integration in younger and older adults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A matter of focus: Detailed memory in the intentional autobiographical recall of older and younger adults.

PubMed

Aizpurua, Alaitz; Koutstaal, Wilma

2015-05-01

The intricately interwoven role of detailed autobiographical memory in our daily lives and in our imaginative envisioning of the future is increasingly recognized. But how is the detail-rich nature of autobiographical memory best assessed and, in particular, how can possible aging-related differences in autobiographical memory specificity be most effectively evaluated? This study examined whether a modified interview, involving fewer and time-matched events for older and younger adults, yielded age-related outcomes similar to those that have been previously reported. As in earlier studies, modest age-related changes in the specificity of autobiographical recall were observed, yet the largest most robust effect for both age groups was the substantial proportion of specific details retrieved. Both age groups rated recent memories as significantly less important and as less emotional than more temporally distant events. Our findings counter conceptions of older adults' autobiographical memories as invariably less episodically rich than those of younger adults. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Expiratory flow limitation and operating lung volumes during exercise in older and younger adults.

PubMed

Smith, Joshua R; Kurti, Stephanie P; Meskimen, Kayla; Harms, Craig A

2017-06-01

We determined the effect of aging on expiratory flow limitation (EFL) and operating lung volumes when matched for lung size. We hypothesized that older adults will exhibit greater EFL and increases in EELV during exercise compared to younger controls. Ten older (5M/5W; >60years old) and nineteen height-matched young adults (10M/9W) were recruited. Young adults were matched for%predicted forced vital capacity (FVC) (Y-matched%Pred FVC; n=10) and absolute FVC (Y-matched FVC; n=10). Tidal flow-volume loops were recorded during the incremental exercise test with maximal flow-volume loops measured pre- and post-exercise. Compared to younger controls, older adults exhibited more EFL at ventilations of 26, 35, 51, and 80L/min. The older group had higher end-inspiratory lung volume compared to Y-matched%Pred FVC group during submaximal ventilations. The older group increased EELV during exercise, while EELV stayed below resting in the Y-matched%Pred FVC group. These data suggest older adults exhibit more EFL and increase EELV earlier during exercise compared to younger adults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differences in the way older and younger adults rate threat in faces but not situations.

PubMed

Ruffman, Ted; Sullivan, Susan; Edge, Nigel

2006-07-01

We compared young and healthy older adults' ability to rate photos of faces and situations (e.g., sporting activities) for the degree of threat they posed. Older adults did not distinguish between more and less dangerous faces to the same extent as younger adults did. In contrast, we found no significant age differences in young and older adults' ability to distinguish between high- and low-danger situations. The differences between young and older adults on the face task were independent of age differences in older adults' fluid IQ. We discuss results in relation to differences between young and older adults on emotion-recognition tasks; we also discuss sociocognitive and neuropsychological (e.g., amygdala) theories of aging.

Younger and older adults' beliefs about the experience and expression of emotions across the life span.

PubMed

Montepare, Joann M; Dobish, Heidi

2014-11-01

Although theorists acknowledge that beliefs about emotions may play a role in age-related emotion behavior, no research has explored these beliefs. This research examined beliefs about the experience and expression of emotions across the life span, especially across the adult years. Younger and older adults rated the extent to which infants, children, adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults were likely to experience and express a range of emotions. Younger and older adults held similar beliefs about the course of emotions across the life span. Moreover, these beliefs differed across emotion categories. In particular, although older adults were believed to experience and express fewer highly charged, negative emotions, they were expected to be more likely to experience and express positive, low arousal emotions, as well as negative, low arousal emotions. The experience and expression of positive, high arousal emotions were seen as more characteristic of very young age groups as opposed to older age groups. These findings beg questions about if and how beliefs about emotion may affect age-related emotion regulation strategies and other everyday emotion-focused behaviors, as well as social reactions to older adults observed experiencing and expressing particular types of emotions. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Valuation of active blind spot detection systems by younger and older adults.

PubMed

Souders, Dustin J; Best, Ryan; Charness, Neil

2017-09-01

Due to their disproportional representation in fatal crashes, younger and older drivers both stand to benefit from in-vehicle safety technologies, yet little is known about how they value such technologies, or their willingness to adopt them. The current study investigated older (aged 65 and greater; N=49) and younger (ages 18-23; N=40) adults' valuation of a blind spot monitor and asked if self-reported visual difficulties while driving predicted the amount participants were willing to pay for a particular system (BMW's Active Blind Spot Detection System) that was demonstrated using a short video. Large and small anchor values ($250 and $500, respectively) were used as between subjects manipulations to examine the effects of initial valuation, and participants proceeded through a short staircase procedure that offered them either the free installation of the system on their current vehicle or a monetary prize ($25-$950) that changed in value according to which option they had selected in the previous step of the staircase procedure. Willingness to use other advanced driver assistance systems (lane-departure warning, automatic lane centering, emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and self-parking systems) was also analyzed, additionally controlling for prior familiarity of those systems. Results showed that increased age was associated with a higher valuation for the Active Blind Spot Detection System in both the large and small anchor value conditions controlling for income, gender, and technology self-efficacy. Older adults valued blind spot detection about twice as much ($762) as younger adults ($383) in the large anchor condition, though both groups' values were in the range for the current cost of an aftermarket system. Similarly, age was the most robust positive predictor of willingness to adopt other driving technologies, along with system familiarity. Difficulties with driving-related visual factors also positively predicting acceptance levels for

Audio-Visual and Meaningful Semantic Context Enhancements in Older and Younger Adults.

PubMed

Smayda, Kirsten E; Van Engen, Kristin J; Maddox, W Todd; Chandrasekaran, Bharath

2016-01-01

Speech perception is critical to everyday life. Oftentimes noise can degrade a speech signal; however, because of the cues available to the listener, such as visual and semantic cues, noise rarely prevents conversations from continuing. The interaction of visual and semantic cues in aiding speech perception has been studied in young adults, but the extent to which these two cues interact for older adults has not been studied. To investigate the effect of visual and semantic cues on speech perception in older and younger adults, we recruited forty-five young adults (ages 18-35) and thirty-three older adults (ages 60-90) to participate in a speech perception task. Participants were presented with semantically meaningful and anomalous sentences in audio-only and audio-visual conditions. We hypothesized that young adults would outperform older adults across SNRs, modalities, and semantic contexts. In addition, we hypothesized that both young and older adults would receive a greater benefit from a semantically meaningful context in the audio-visual relative to audio-only modality. We predicted that young adults would receive greater visual benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. However, we predicted that older adults could receive a greater visual benefit in either semantically meaningful or anomalous contexts. Results suggested that in the most supportive context, that is, semantically meaningful sentences presented in the audiovisual modality, older adults performed similarly to young adults. In addition, both groups received the same amount of visual and meaningful benefit. Lastly, across groups, a semantically meaningful context provided more benefit in the audio-visual modality relative to the audio-only modality, and the presence of visual cues provided more benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. These results suggest that older adults can perceive speech as well as younger adults when both

Audio-Visual and Meaningful Semantic Context Enhancements in Older and Younger Adults

PubMed Central

Smayda, Kirsten E.; Van Engen, Kristin J.; Maddox, W. Todd; Chandrasekaran, Bharath

2016-01-01

Speech perception is critical to everyday life. Oftentimes noise can degrade a speech signal; however, because of the cues available to the listener, such as visual and semantic cues, noise rarely prevents conversations from continuing. The interaction of visual and semantic cues in aiding speech perception has been studied in young adults, but the extent to which these two cues interact for older adults has not been studied. To investigate the effect of visual and semantic cues on speech perception in older and younger adults, we recruited forty-five young adults (ages 18–35) and thirty-three older adults (ages 60–90) to participate in a speech perception task. Participants were presented with semantically meaningful and anomalous sentences in audio-only and audio-visual conditions. We hypothesized that young adults would outperform older adults across SNRs, modalities, and semantic contexts. In addition, we hypothesized that both young and older adults would receive a greater benefit from a semantically meaningful context in the audio-visual relative to audio-only modality. We predicted that young adults would receive greater visual benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. However, we predicted that older adults could receive a greater visual benefit in either semantically meaningful or anomalous contexts. Results suggested that in the most supportive context, that is, semantically meaningful sentences presented in the audiovisual modality, older adults performed similarly to young adults. In addition, both groups received the same amount of visual and meaningful benefit. Lastly, across groups, a semantically meaningful context provided more benefit in the audio-visual modality relative to the audio-only modality, and the presence of visual cues provided more benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. These results suggest that older adults can perceive speech as well as younger adults when

Memory, priority encoding, and overcoming high-value proactive interference in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Friedman, Michael C; Castel, Alan D

2013-01-01

It is often necessary to remember important information while directing attention away from encoding less valuable information. To examine how aging influences the ability to control and update the encoding of high-value information, younger and older adults studied six lists of words that varied in terms of the point values associated with each word. The words were paired with the same high and low point values for three study-test cycles, but on the fourth and subsequent cycles the value-word pairings were switched such that the lowest value pairs became the highest values (and vice versa). For the first three study-test cycles, younger adults outperformed older adults in terms of the number of words recalled and overall point totals, but performance was similar in terms of selectively remembering high-value words. When the values were switched, both groups displayed substantial interference from the previous pairings. Although both groups improved with additional study-test cycles, only younger adults were able to fully recover from the interference effects. A similar, and more pronounced, set of results were obtained when positive and negative point values were paired with the words. The findings are interpreted in a value-directed remembering framework, emphasizing the role of benefits and costs of strategic encoding and age-related differences in the effects of interference on memory.

An fMRI comparison of neural activity associated with recognition of familiar melodies in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Sikka, Ritu; Cuddy, Lola L.; Johnsrude, Ingrid S.; Vanstone, Ashley D.

2015-01-01

Several studies of semantic memory in non-musical domains involving recognition of items from long-term memory have shown an age-related shift from the medial temporal lobe structures to the frontal lobe. However, the effects of aging on musical semantic memory remain unexamined. We compared activation associated with recognition of familiar melodies in younger and older adults. Recognition follows successful retrieval from the musical lexicon that comprises a lifetime of learned musical phrases. We used the sparse-sampling technique in fMRI to determine the neural correlates of melody recognition by comparing activation when listening to familiar vs. unfamiliar melodies, and to identify age differences. Recognition-related cortical activation was detected in the right superior temporal, bilateral inferior and superior frontal, left middle orbitofrontal, bilateral precentral, and left supramarginal gyri. Region-of-interest analysis showed greater activation for younger adults in the left superior temporal gyrus and for older adults in the left superior frontal, left angular, and bilateral superior parietal regions. Our study provides powerful evidence for these musical memory networks due to a large sample (N = 40) that includes older adults. This study is the first to investigate the neural basis of melody recognition in older adults and to compare the findings to younger adults. PMID:26500480

Saving the Best for Last: How Adults Treat Social Partners of Different Ages

PubMed Central

Fingerman, Karen; Miller, Laura; Charles, Susan

2009-01-01

Older adults report more positive feelings and fewer problems in their relationships than do younger adults. These positive experiences may partially reflect how people treat older adults. Social partners may treat older adults more kindly due to their sense that time remaining to interact with these older adults is limited. Younger (n = 87, aged 22 to 35) and older participants (n = 89, aged 65 to 77) indicated how positively they would behave (i.e., express affection, proffer respect, send sentimental cards) and what types of conflict strategies they would use in response to hypothetical negative interactions with two close social partners, a younger adult and an older adult. Multilevel models revealed that participants were more avoidant and less confrontational when interacting with older adults than when interacting with younger adults. Time perspective of the relationship partially mediated these age differences. Young and older participants also were more likely to select sentimental cards for older partners than for younger partners. Findings build on socioemotional selectivity theory and the social input model to suggest that social partners facilitate better relationships in late life. PMID:18573013

Aging Ebbs the Flow of Thought: Adult Age Differences in Mind Wandering, Executive Control, and Self-Evaluation

PubMed Central

McVay, Jennifer C.; Meier, Matthew E.; Touron, Dayna R.; Kane, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Two experiments examined the relations among adult aging, mind wandering, and executive-task performance, following from surprising laboratory findings that older adults report fewer task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) than do younger adults (e.g., Giambra, 1989; Jackson & Balota, 2011). Because older adults may experience more ability- and performance-related worry during cognitive tasks in the laboratory, and because these evaluative thoughts (known as task-related interference, “TRI”) might be sometimes misclassified by subjects as task-related, we asked subjects to distinguish task-related thoughts from TRI and TUTs when probed during ongoing tasks. In Experiment 1, younger and older adults completed either a go/no-go or a vigilance version of a sustained attention to response task (SART). Older adults reported more TRI and fewer TUTs than did younger adults while also performing more accurately. In Experiment 2, subjects completed either a 1- or 2-back version of the n-back task. Older adults again reported more TRI and fewer TUTs than younger adults in both versions, while performing better than younger adults in the 1-back and worse in the 2-back. Across experiments, older adults’ reduced TUT rates were independent of performance relative to younger adults. And, although older adults consistently reported more TRI and less mind wandering than did younger adults, overall they reported more on-task thoughts. TRI cannot, therefore, account completely for prior reports of decreasing TUTs with aging. We discuss the implications of these results for various theoretical approaches to mind-wandering. PMID:23261422

Comparable Rest-related Promotion of Spatial Memory Consolidation in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Craig, Michael; Wolbers, Thomas; Harris, Mathew A.; Hauff, Patrick; Della Sala, Sergio; Dewar, Michaela

2017-01-01

Flexible spatial navigation depends on cognitive mapping, a function that declines with increasing age. In young adults, a brief period of post-navigation rest promotes the consolidation/integration of spatial memories into accurate cognitive maps. We examined (1) whether rest promotes spatial memory consolidation/integration in older adults and (2) whether the magnitude of the rest benefit changes with increasing age. Young and older adults learned a route through a virtual environment, followed by a 10min delay comprising either wakeful rest or a perceptual task, and a subsequent cognitive mapping task, requiring the pointing to landmarks from different locations. Pointing accuracy was lower in the older than younger adults. However, there was a comparable rest-related enhancement in pointing accuracy in the two age groups. Together our findings suggest that (i) the age-related decline in cognitive mapping cannot be explained by increased consolidation interference in older adults, and (ii) as we grow older rest continues to support the consolidation/integration of spatial memories. PMID:27689512

Body Image in Adult Women: Moving Beyond the Younger Years

PubMed Central

Kilpela, Lisa Smith; Becker, Carolyn Black; Wesley, Nicole; Stewart, Tiffany

2015-01-01

In spite of copious literature investigating body dissatisfaction and its correlates in adolescents and young adult women, exploration of body image disturbances in adult women remains an underrepresented domain in the literature. Yet, there are many reasons to suspect that body image in adult women both may differ from and possibly be more complex than that of younger women. Adult women face myriad factors influencing body image beyond those delineated in the body image literature on adolescents and young adult women. For instance, aging-related physiological changes shift the female body further away from the thin-young-ideal, which is the societal standard of female beauty. Further, life priorities and psychological factors evolve with age as well. As such, adult women encounter changes that may differentially affect body image across the lifespan. This paper aims to provide an up-to-date review of the current literature on the relationship between body image and associated mental and physical health problems and behaviors in adult women. In addition, we explore factors that may influence body image in adult women. Lastly, we use this review to identify significant gaps in the existing literature with the aim of identifying critical targets for future research. PMID:26052476

Mistakes as Stepping Stones: Effects of Errors on Episodic Memory among Younger and Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cyr, Andrée-Ann; Anderson, Nicole D.

2015-01-01

The memorial costs and benefits of trial-and-error learning have clear pedagogical implications for students, and increasing evidence shows that generating errors during episodic learning can improve memory among younger adults. Conversely, the aging literature has found that errors impair memory among healthy older adults and has advocated for…

Below-baseline suppression of competitors during interference resolution by younger but not older adults.

PubMed

Healey, M Karl; Ngo, K W Joan; Hasher, Lynn

2014-01-01

Resolving interference from competing memories is a critical factor in efficient memory retrieval, and several accounts of cognitive aging suggest that difficulty resolving interference may underlie memory deficits such as those seen in the elderly. Although many researchers have suggested that the ability to suppress competitors is a key factor in resolving interference, the evidence supporting this claim has been the subject of debate. Here, we present a new paradigm and results demonstrating that for younger adults, a single retrieval attempt is sufficient to suppress competitors to below-baseline levels of accessibility even though the competitors are never explicitly presented. The extent to which individual younger adults suppressed competitors predicted their performance on a memory span task. In a second experiment, older adults showed no evidence of suppression, which supports the theory that older adults' memory deficits are related to impaired suppression.

Both younger and older adults have difficulty updating emotional memories.

PubMed

Nashiro, Kaoru; Sakaki, Michiko; Huffman, Derek; Mather, Mara

2013-03-01

The main purpose of the study was to examine whether emotion impairs associative memory for previously seen items in older adults, as previously observed in younger adults. Thirty-two younger adults and 32 older adults participated. The experiment consisted of 2 parts. In Part 1, participants learned picture-object associations for negative and neutral pictures. In Part 2, they learned picture-location associations for negative and neutral pictures; half of these pictures were seen in Part 1 whereas the other half were new. The dependent measure was how many locations of negative versus neutral items in the new versus old categories participants remembered in Part 2. Both groups had more difficulty learning the locations of old negative pictures than of new negative pictures. However, this pattern was not observed for neutral items. Despite the fact that older adults showed overall decline in associative memory, the impairing effect of emotion on updating associative memory was similar between younger and older adults.

Characterizing the subjective experience of episodic past, future, and counterfactual thinking in healthy younger and older adults.

PubMed

De Brigard, Felipe; Giovanello, Kelly S; Stewart, Gregory W; Lockrow, Amber W; O'Brien, Margaret M; Spreng, R Nathan

2016-12-01

Recent evidence demonstrates remarkable overlap in the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and episodic counterfactual thinking. However, the extent to which the phenomenological characteristics associated with these mental simulations change as a result of ageing remains largely unexplored. The current study employs adapted versions of the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire and the Autobiographical Interview to compare the phenomenological characteristics associated with both positive and negative episodic past, future, and counterfactual simulations in younger and older adults. Additionally, it explores the influence of perceived likelihood in the experience of such simulations. The results indicate that, across all simulations, older adults generate more external details and report higher ratings of vividness, composition, and intensity than young adults. Conversely, younger adults generate more internal details across all conditions and rated positive and negative likely future events as more likely than did older adults. Additionally, both younger and older adults reported higher ratings for sensory, composition, and intensity factors during episodic memories relative to future and counterfactual thoughts. Finally, for both groups, ratings of spatial coherence and composition were higher for likely counterfactuals than for both unlikely counterfactuals and future simulations. Implications for the psychology of mental simulation and ageing are discussed.

The influence of monetary incentives on context processing in younger and older adults: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Schmitt, Hannah; Ferdinand, Nicola K; Kray, Jutta

2015-06-01

Recent evidence has indicated that neuronal activity related to reward anticipation benefits subsequent stimulus processing, but the effect of penalties remains largely unknown. Since the dual-mechanisms-of-control theory (DMC; Braver & Barch, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26, 809-81, 2002) assumes that temporal differences in context updating underlie age differences in cognitive control, in this study we investigated whether motivational cues (signaling the chance to win or the risk to lose money, relative to neutral cues) preceding context information in a modified AX-CPT paradigm influence the temporal stages of context processing in younger and older adults. In the behavioral data, younger adults benefited from gain cues, evident in their enhanced context updating, whereas older adults exhibited slowed responding after motivational cues, irrespective of valence. Event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed that the enhanced processing of motivational cues in the P2 and P3b was mainly age-invariant, whereas age-differential effects were found for the ERP correlates of context processing. Younger adults showed improved context maintenance (i.e., a larger negative-going CNV), as well as increased conflict detection (larger N450) and resolution (indicated by a sustained positivity), whenever incorrect responding would lead to a monetary loss. In contrast, motivationally salient cues benefited context representations (in cue-locked P3b amplitudes), but increased working memory demands during response preparation (via a temporally prolonged P3b) in older adults. In sum, motivational valence and salience effects differentially modulated the temporal stages of context processing in younger and older adults. These results are discussed in terms of the DMC theory, recent findings of emotion regulation in old age, and the relationship between cognitive and affective processing.

Ultra-long pharmacokinetic properties of insulin degludec are comparable in elderly subjects and younger adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Korsatko, S; Deller, S; Mader, J K; Glettler, K; Koehler, G; Treiber, G; Urschitz, M; Wolf, M; Hastrup, H; Søndergaard, F; Haahr, H; Pieber, T R

2014-01-01

Management of diabetes in elderly subjects is complex and careful management of glucose levels is of particular importance in this population because of an increased risk of diabetes-related complications and hypoglycaemia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of insulin degludec (IDeg), a basal insulin with an ultra-long duration of action, in elderly subjects with type 1 diabetes compared with younger adults. This trial was a randomised, double-blind, two-period, crossover trial conducted in a single centre and included both inpatient and outpatient periods. Subjects were men and women aged 18-35 years inclusive (younger adult group) or ≥65 years (elderly group) with type 1 diabetes who received IDeg (0.4 U/kg) via subcutaneous injection in the thigh once-daily for six days. Following 6-day dosing, a 26-hour euglycaemic glucose clamp procedure was conducted to evaluate the steady-state pharmacodynamic effects of IDeg. Blood samples were taken for pharmacokinetic analysis up to 120 h post-dose. Pharmacokinetic endpoints included the total exposure of IDeg, ie the area under the IDeg serum concentration curve during one dosing interval at steady state (AUC(IDeg,τ,SS)) (τ = 0-24 h, equal to one dosing interval) and the maximum IDeg serum concentration at steady state (C(max,IDeg,SS)). Pharmacodynamic endpoints included the total glucose-lowering effect of IDeg, ie the area under the glucose infusion rate (GIR) curve at steady state (AUC(GIR,τ,SS)), and the maximum GIR at steady state (GIR(max,IDeg,SS)). Total exposure (AUC(IDeg,τ,SS)) and maximum concentration (C(max,IDeg,SS)) of IDeg were comparable between elderly subjects and younger adults. Estimated mean age group ratios (elderly/younger adult) for AUC(IDeg,τ,SS) and C(max,IDeg,SS) and corresponding two-sided 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were 1.04 (95 % CI 0.73-1.47) and 1.02 (95 % CI 0.74-1.39), respectively. Mean AUC(IDeg,0-12h

Evaluating suggestibility to additive and contradictory misinformation following explicit error detection in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Huff, Mark J; Umanath, Sharda

2018-06-01

In 2 experiments, we assessed age-related suggestibility to additive and contradictory misinformation (i.e., remembering of false details from an external source). After reading a fictional story, participants answered questions containing misleading details that were either additive (misleading details that supplemented an original event) or contradictory (errors that changed original details). On a final test, suggestibility was greater for additive than contradictory misinformation, and older adults endorsed fewer false contradictory details than younger adults. To mitigate suggestibility in Experiment 2, participants were warned about potential errors, instructed to detect errors, or instructed to detect errors after exposure to examples of additive and contradictory details. Again, suggestibility to additive misinformation was greater than contradictory, and older adults endorsed less contradictory misinformation. Only after detection instructions with misinformation examples were younger adults able to reduce contradictory misinformation effects and reduced these effects to the level of older adults. Additive misinformation however, was immune to all warning and detection instructions. Thus, older adults were less susceptible to contradictory misinformation errors, and younger adults could match this misinformation rate when warning/detection instructions were strong. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Receptive Vocabulary, Cognitive Flexibility, and Inhibitory Control Differentially Predict Older and Younger Adults' Success Perceiving Speech by Talkers with Dysarthria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingvalson, Erin M.; Lansford, Kaitlin L.; Fedorova, Valeriya; Fernandez, Gabriel

2017-01-01

Purpose: Previous research has demonstrated equivocal findings related to the effect of listener age on intelligibility ratings of dysarthric speech. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanisms that support younger and older adults' perception of speech by talkers with dysarthria. Method: Younger and older adults identified…

The role of reduced working memory storage and processing resources in the associative memory deficit of older adults: simulation studies with younger adults.

PubMed

Hara, Yoko; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe

2015-01-01

Previous research indicates that relative to younger adults, older adults show a larger decline in long-term memory (LTM) for associations than for the components that make up these associations. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether we can impair associative memory performance in young adults by reducing their working memory (WM) resources, hence providing potential clues regarding the underlying causes of the associative memory deficit in older adults. With two experiments, we investigated whether we can reduce younger adults' long-term associative memory using secondary tasks in which either storage or processing WM loads were manipulated, while participants learned name-face pairs and then remembered the names, the faces, and the name-face associations. Results show that reducing either the storage or the processing resources of WM produced performance patterns of an associative long-term memory deficit in young adults. Furthermore, younger adults' associative memory deficit was a function of their performance on a working memory span task. These results indicate that one potential reason older adults have an associative deficit is a reduction in their WM resources but further research is needed to assess the mechanisms involved in age-related associative memory deficits.

The hypercorrection effect in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Eich, Teal S; Stern, Yaakov; Metcalfe, Janet

2013-01-01

ABSTRACT The hypercorrection effect, which refers to the finding that errors committed with high confidence are more likely to be corrected than are low confidence errors, has been replicated many times, and with both young adults and children. In the present study, we contrasted older with younger adults. Participants answered general-information questions, made confidence ratings about their answers, were given corrective feedback, and then were retested on questions that they had gotten wrong. While younger adults showed the hypercorrection effect, older adults, despite higher overall accuracy on the general-information questions and excellent basic metacognitive ability, showed a diminished hypercorrection effect. Indeed, the correspondence between their confidence in their errors and the probability of correction was not significantly greater than zero, showing, for the first time, that a particular participant population is selectively impaired on this error correction task. These results potentially offer leverage both on the mechanisms underlying the hypercorrection effect and on reasons for older adults' memory impairments, as well as on memory functions that are spared.

Swallow Event Sequencing: Comparing Healthy Older and Younger Adults.

PubMed

Herzberg, Erica G; Lazarus, Cathy L; Steele, Catriona M; Molfenter, Sonja M

2018-04-23

Previous research has established that a great deal of variation exists in the temporal sequence of swallowing events for healthy adults. Yet, the impact of aging on swallow event sequence is not well understood. Kendall et al. (Dysphagia 18(2):85-91, 2003) suggested there are 4 obligatory paired-event sequences in swallowing. We directly compared adherence to these sequences, as well as event latencies, and quantified the percentage of unique sequences in two samples of healthy adults: young (< 45) and old (> 65). The 8 swallowing events that contribute to the sequences were reliably identified from videofluoroscopy in a sample of 23 healthy seniors (10 male, mean age 74.7) and 20 healthy young adults (10 male, mean age 31.5) with no evidence of penetration-aspiration or post-swallow residue. Chi-square analyses compared the proportions of obligatory pairs and unique sequences by age group. Compared to the older subjects, younger subjects had significantly lower adherence to two obligatory sequences: Upper Esophageal Sphincter (UES) opening occurs before (or simultaneous with) the bolus arriving at the UES and UES maximum distention occurs before maximum pharyngeal constriction. The associated latencies were significantly different between age groups as well. Further, significantly fewer unique swallow sequences were observed in the older group (61%) compared with the young (82%) (χ 2  = 31.8; p < 0.001). Our findings suggest that paired swallow event sequences may not be robust across the age continuum and that variation in swallow sequences appears to decrease with aging. These findings provide normative references for comparisons to older individuals with dysphagia.

Comparison of tinnitus and psychological aspects between the younger and older adult patients with tinnitus.

PubMed

Park, So Young; Han, Jung Ju; Hwang, Jae Hyung; Whang, Eul Sung; Yeo, Sang Won; Park, Shi Nae

2017-04-01

To explore the differences in various tinnitus-related features and psychological aspects between the younger and older adult patients with tinnitus. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of the adult patients who visited our tinnitus clinic in 2013 and completed full tinnitus assessment including audiometry, tinnitus matching, standardized tinnitus questionnaires, and psychometric questionnaires. The younger group included patients aged 20-45 years (n=64), and the older group, those older than 65 years (n=76). Clinical features, hearing levels, matched tinnitus pitches and loudness, self-report tinnitus severity scores, Beck depression inventory scores, and stress scores were compared between the groups. Tinnitus duration was longer in the older group (p=0.002). Mean PTAs were 16dB HL in the younger, and 38dB HL in the older groups (p<0.001). Eighty-nine percent of the younger patients had normal hearing, while 82% of the older patients had hearing loss (p<0.001). Matched tinnitus loudness was greater in the older group (64dB HL vs. 36dB HL, p<0.001). All of the self-report tinnitus, depression, and stress scores did not differ between the groups. The older patients seemed to be more receptive to tinnitus. The majority of older tinnitus patients had concomitant hearing loss, and thus hearing rehabilitation should be considered preferentially for tinnitus management in this age group. Subjective tinnitus severity, depressive symptoms, and the stress levels were similar between the younger and older tinnitus patients. Therefore, treatment could be planned based upon the comprehensive understanding of the tinnitus characteristics and psychological aspects in each patient irrespective of age. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intentions to Prevent Weight Gain in Older and Younger Adults; The Importance of Perceived Health and Appearance Consequences.

PubMed

Beeken, Rebecca J; Mahdi, Sundus; Johnson, Fiona; Meisel, Susanne F

2018-01-01

This study investigates whether health and appearance consequences predict intentions to prevent weight gain and whether these relationships differ in younger versus older adults and in men versus women. UK adults aged 18-26 years (younger adults; n = 584) or >45 years (older adults; n = 107) participated in an online survey. Logistic regression assessed associations between intentions to avoid gaining weight and age, gender as well as perceived negative consequences of weight gain for health and appearance. Co-variates were ethnicity, education, weight perception and perceived weight gain vulnerability. Interactions between age, gender and perceived health and appearance consequences of weight gain were also tested. Perceived negative appearance consequences of weight gain predicted weight gain prevention intentions (OR = 9.3, p < 0.001). Health concerns were not a significant predictor of intentions overall but were a strong predictor for older adults (age × health concern interaction: OR = 13.6, p > 0.01). Concerns about feeling unattractive predict intentions to prevent weight gain. However, health consequences of weight gain are only important motivators for older adults. Future research should identify ways to shift the focus of young people from appearance concerns towards the health benefits of maintaining a healthy weight. © 2018 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

Is There a Paradox of Aging: When the Negative Aging Stereotype Meets the Positivity Effect in Older Adults.

PubMed

Zhou, Liqing; Lu, Jia; Chen, Guopeng; Dong, Li; Yao, Yujia

2017-01-01

Background/Study Context: Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) states that the positivity effect is a result of older adults' emotion regulation and that older adults derive more emotional satisfaction from prioritizing positive information processing. The authors explored whether the positivity effect appeared when the negative aging stereotype was activated in older adults and also whether the effect differed between mixed and unmixed valence conditions. Sixty younger (18-23 years of age) and 60 older (60-87 years of age) adults were randomly assigned to a control group and a priming group, in which the negative aging stereotype was activated. All the participants were asked to select 15 words that best described the elderly from a mixed-word list (positive and negative words were mixed together) and from an unmixed-word list (positive and negative words were separated). Older adults in the control group selected more positive words, whereas among younger adults, selection did not differ by valence in either the mixed- or unmixed-word list conditions. There were no differences between the positive and negative word choices of the younger and older adults in the priming group. We calculated the differences between the numbers of positive and negative words, and the differences in the older adults' word choices were larger than those among the younger adults; the differences were also larger in the control group than in the priming group. The positivity effect worked by choosing positive stimuli rather than avoiding negative stimuli. The role of emotion regulation in older adults was limited, and when the positivity effect faced the effect of the negative aging stereotype, the negative stereotype effect was dominant. Future research should explore the changes in the positivity effect in the face of a positive aging stereotype and what roles other factors (e.g., activation level of the stereotype, arousal level of affective words) might play.

Linguistic Context Versus Semantic Competition in Word Recognition by Younger and Older Adults With Cochlear Implants.

PubMed

Amichetti, Nicole M; Atagi, Eriko; Kong, Ying-Yee; Wingfield, Arthur

The increasing numbers of older adults now receiving cochlear implants raises the question of how the novel signal produced by cochlear implants may interact with cognitive aging in the recognition of words heard spoken within a linguistic context. The objective of this study was to pit the facilitative effects of a constraining linguistic context against a potential age-sensitive negative effect of response competition on effectiveness of word recognition. Younger (n = 8; mean age = 22.5 years) and older (n = 8; mean age = 67.5 years) adult implant recipients heard 20 target words as the final words in sentences that manipulated the target word's probability of occurrence within the sentence context. Data from published norms were also used to measure response entropy, calculated as the total number of different responses and the probability distribution of the responses suggested by the sentence context. Sentence-final words were presented to participants using a word-onset gating paradigm, in which a target word was presented with increasing amounts of its onset duration in 50 msec increments until the word was correctly identified. Results showed that for both younger and older adult implant users, the amount of word-onset information needed for correct recognition of sentence-final words was inversely proportional to their likelihood of occurrence within the sentence context, with older adults gaining differential advantage from the contextual constraints offered by a sentence context. On the negative side, older adults' word recognition was differentially hampered by high response entropy, with this effect being driven primarily by the number of competing responses that might also fit the sentence context. Consistent with previous research with normal-hearing younger and older adults, the present results showed older adult implant users' recognition of spoken words to be highly sensitive to linguistic context. This sensitivity, however, also resulted in a

Anticipatory neural dynamics of spatial-temporal orienting of attention in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Heideman, Simone G; Rohenkohl, Gustavo; Chauvin, Joshua J; Palmer, Clare E; van Ede, Freek; Nobre, Anna C

2018-05-04

Spatial and temporal expectations act synergistically to facilitate visual perception. In the current study, we sought to investigate the anticipatory oscillatory markers of combined spatial-temporal orienting and to test whether these decline with ageing. We examined anticipatory neural dynamics associated with joint spatial-temporal orienting of attention using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in both younger and older adults. Participants performed a cued covert spatial-temporal orienting task requiring the discrimination of a visual target. Cues indicated both where and when targets would appear. In both age groups, valid spatial-temporal cues significantly enhanced perceptual sensitivity and reduced reaction times. In the MEG data, the main effect of spatial orienting was the lateralised anticipatory modulation of posterior alpha and beta oscillations. In contrast to previous reports, this modulation was not attenuated in older adults; instead it was even more pronounced. The main effect of temporal orienting was a bilateral suppression of posterior alpha and beta oscillations. This effect was restricted to younger adults. Our results also revealed a striking interaction between anticipatory spatial and temporal orienting in the gamma-band (60-75 Hz). When considering both age groups separately, this effect was only clearly evident and only survived statistical evaluation in the older adults. Together, these observations provide several new insights into the neural dynamics supporting separate as well as combined effects of spatial and temporal orienting of attention, and suggest that different neural dynamics associated with attentional orienting appear differentially sensitive to ageing. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Difference between Right and Wrong: Accuracy of Older and Younger Adults' Story Recall.

PubMed

Davis, Danielle K; Alea, Nicole; Bluck, Susan

2015-09-02

Sharing stories is an important social activity in everyday life. This study used fine-grained content analysis to investigate the accuracy of recall of two central story elements: the gist and detail of socially-relevant stories. Younger (M age = 28.06) and older (M age = 75.03) American men and women (N = 63) recalled fictional stories that were coded for (i) accuracy of overall gist and specific gist categories and (ii) accuracy of overall detail and specific detail categories. Findings showed no age group differences in accuracy of overall gist or detail, but differences emerged for specific categories. Older adults more accurately recalled the gist of when the event occurred whereas younger adults more accurately recalled the gist of why the event occurred. These differences were related to episodic memory ability and education. For accuracy in recalling details, there were some age differences, but gender differences were more robust. Overall, women remembered details of these social stories more accurately than men, particularly time and perceptual details. Women were also more likely to accurately remember the gist of when the event occurred. The discussion focuses on how accurate recall of socially-relevant stories is not clearly age-dependent but is related to person characteristics such as gender and episodic memory ability/education.

What is it that lingers? Garden-path (mis)interpretations in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Malyutina, Svetlana; den Ouden, Dirk-Bart

2016-01-01

Previous research has shown that comprehenders do not always conduct a full (re)analysis of temporarily ambiguous "garden-path" sentences. The present study used a sentence-picture matching task to investigate what kind of representations are formed when full reanalysis is not performed: Do comprehenders "blend" two incompatible representations as a result of shallow syntactic processing or do they erroneously maintain the initial incorrect parsing without incorporating new information, and does this vary with age? Twenty-five younger and 15 older adults performed a multiple-choice sentence-picture matching task with stimuli including early-closure garden-path sentences. The results suggest that the type of erroneous representation is affected by linguistic variables, such as sentence structure, verb type, and semantic plausibility, as well as by age. Older adults' response patterns indicate an increased reliance on inferencing based on lexical and semantic cues, with a lower bar for accepting an initial parse and with a weaker drive to reanalyse a syntactic representation. Among younger adults, there was a tendency to blend two representations into a single interpretation, even if this was not licensed by the syntax.

Relate it! Objective and subjective evaluation of mediator-based strategies for improving source memory in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Kuhlmann, Beatrice G; Touron, Dayna R

2017-06-01

The present study examined younger and older adults' ability to improve their source memory for different types of sources through imaginal and verbal (sentence) mediators. Younger (18-29 years) and older (60-75 years) adults' strategy use and source memory for either text-type (bold vs italic) or person (woman vs man) sources was assessed; strategy use was either spontaneous or the generation of imaginal mediators was instructed before encoding. Younger and older adults did not differ in spontaneous use of mediator-based strategies; however, older adults generated more images but fewer verbal mediators than younger adults. Participants were able to increase mediator generation when instructed to, resulting in substantial increases in both item and source memory for the instructed conditions in both age groups. Use of verbal mediators was more likely for the more concrete person sources for which source memory was generally better. Importantly, these objective benefits of mediator-based strategies translated into subjective benefits for both younger and older adults: Increased use of either mediator type was correlated with lower experienced task difficulty; the instructions to use imaginal mediators resulted in a significant decrease in difficulty ratings on the group level. Participants were generally able to monitor mediator benefits to both item and source memory and accurately judged mediator strategies (especially imagery) as more effective than repetition; older adults, however, rated all strategies as less effective than younger adults. Implications of these findings, especially for neuropsychological studies on source monitoring, are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the experience of episodic past, future, and counterfactual thinking in younger and older adults: A study of a Colombian sample.

PubMed

De Brigard, Felipe; Rodriguez, Diana Carolina; Montañés, Patricia

2017-05-01

Although extant evidence suggests that many neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying episodic past, future, and counterfactual thinking overlap, recent results have uncovered differences among these three processes. However, the extent to which there may be age-related differences in the phenomenological characteristics associated with episodic past, future and counterfactual thinking remains unclear. This study used adapted versions of the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire and the Autobiographical Interview in younger and older adults to investigate the subjective experience of episodic past, future and counterfactual thinking. The results suggest that, across all conditions, younger adults generated more internal details than older adults. However, older adults generated more external details for episodic future and counterfactual thinking than younger adults. Additionally, younger and older adults generated more internal details, and gave higher sensory and contextual ratings, for memories rather than future and counterfactual thoughts. Methodological and theoretical consequences for extant theories of mental simulation are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inertial Sensor Based Analysis of Lie-to-Stand Transfers in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Schwickert, Lars; Boos, Ronald; Klenk, Jochen; Bourke, Alan; Becker, Clemens; Zijlstra, Wiebren

2016-01-01

Many older adults lack the capacity to stand up again after a fall. Therefore, to analyse falls it is relevant to understand recovery patterns, including successful and failed attempts to get up from the floor in general. This study analysed different kinematic features of standing up from the floor. We used inertial sensors to describe the kinematics of lie-to-stand transfer patterns of younger and healthy older adults. Fourteen younger (20–50 years of age, 50% men) and 10 healthy older community dwellers (≥60 years; 50% men) conducted four lie-to-stand transfers from different initial lying postures. The analysed temporal, kinematic, and elliptic fitting complexity measures of transfer performance were significantly different between younger and older subjects (i.e., transfer duration, angular velocity (RMS), maximum vertical acceleration, maximum vertical velocity, smoothness, fluency, ellipse width, angle between ellipses). These results show the feasibility and potential of analysing kinematic features to describe the lie-to-stand transfer performance, to help design interventions and detection approaches to prevent long lies after falls. It is possible to describe age-related differences in lie-to-stand transfer performance using inertial sensors. The kinematic analysis remains to be tested on patterns after real-world falls. PMID:27529249

iNOS-dependent sweating and eNOS-dependent cutaneous vasodilation are evident in younger adults, but are diminished in older adults exercising in the heat

PubMed Central

Fujii, Naoto; Meade, Robert D.; Alexander, Lacy M.; Akbari, Pegah; Foudil-bey, Imane; Louie, Jeffrey C.; Boulay, Pierre

2015-01-01

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) contributes to sweating and cutaneous vasodilation during exercise in younger adults. We hypothesized that endothelial NOS (eNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS) mediate NOS-dependent sweating, whereas eNOS induces NOS-dependent cutaneous vasodilation in younger adults exercising in the heat. Further, aging may upregulate inducible NOS (iNOS), which may attenuate sweating and cutaneous vasodilator responses. We hypothesized that iNOS inhibition would augment sweating and cutaneous vasodilation in exercising older adults. Physically active younger (n = 12, 23 ± 4 yr) and older (n = 12, 60 ± 6 yr) adults performed two 30-min bouts of cycling at a fixed rate of metabolic heat production (400 W) in the heat (35°C). Sweat rate and cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) were evaluated at four intradermal microdialysis sites with: 1) lactated Ringer (control), 2) nNOS inhibitor (nNOS-I, NPLA), 3) iNOS inhibitor (iNOS-I, 1400W), or 4) eNOS inhibitor (eNOS-I, LNAA). In younger adults during both exercise bouts, all inhibitors decreased sweating relative to control, albeit a lower sweat rate was observed at iNOS-I compared with eNOS-I and nNOS-I sites (all P < 0.05). CVC at the eNOS-I site was lower than control in younger adults throughout the intermittent exercise protocol (all P < 0.05). In older adults, there were no differences between control and iNOS-I sites for sweating and CVC during both exercise bouts (all P > 0.05). We show that iNOS and eNOS are the main contributors to NOS-dependent sweating and cutaneous vasodilation, respectively, in physically active younger adults exercising in the heat, and that iNOS inhibition does not alter sweating or cutaneous vasodilation in exercising physically active older adults. PMID:26586908

iNOS-dependent sweating and eNOS-dependent cutaneous vasodilation are evident in younger adults, but are diminished in older adults exercising in the heat.

PubMed

Fujii, Naoto; Meade, Robert D; Alexander, Lacy M; Akbari, Pegah; Foudil-Bey, Imane; Louie, Jeffrey C; Boulay, Pierre; Kenny, Glen P

2016-02-01

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) contributes to sweating and cutaneous vasodilation during exercise in younger adults. We hypothesized that endothelial NOS (eNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS) mediate NOS-dependent sweating, whereas eNOS induces NOS-dependent cutaneous vasodilation in younger adults exercising in the heat. Further, aging may upregulate inducible NOS (iNOS), which may attenuate sweating and cutaneous vasodilator responses. We hypothesized that iNOS inhibition would augment sweating and cutaneous vasodilation in exercising older adults. Physically active younger (n = 12, 23 ± 4 yr) and older (n = 12, 60 ± 6 yr) adults performed two 30-min bouts of cycling at a fixed rate of metabolic heat production (400 W) in the heat (35°C). Sweat rate and cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) were evaluated at four intradermal microdialysis sites with: 1) lactated Ringer (control), 2) nNOS inhibitor (nNOS-I, NPLA), 3) iNOS inhibitor (iNOS-I, 1400W), or 4) eNOS inhibitor (eNOS-I, LNAA). In younger adults during both exercise bouts, all inhibitors decreased sweating relative to control, albeit a lower sweat rate was observed at iNOS-I compared with eNOS-I and nNOS-I sites (all P < 0.05). CVC at the eNOS-I site was lower than control in younger adults throughout the intermittent exercise protocol (all P < 0.05). In older adults, there were no differences between control and iNOS-I sites for sweating and CVC during both exercise bouts (all P > 0.05). We show that iNOS and eNOS are the main contributors to NOS-dependent sweating and cutaneous vasodilation, respectively, in physically active younger adults exercising in the heat, and that iNOS inhibition does not alter sweating or cutaneous vasodilation in exercising physically active older adults. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Younger and older adults' collaborative recall of shared and unshared emotional pictures.

PubMed

Barber, Sarah J; Castrellon, Jaime J; Opitz, Philipp; Mather, Mara

2017-07-01

Although a group of people working together recalls more items than any one individual, they recall fewer unique items than the same number of people working apart whose responses are combined. This is known as collaborative inhibition, and it is a robust effect that occurs for both younger and older adults. However, almost all previous studies documenting collaborative inhibition have used stimuli that were neutral in emotional valence, low in arousal, and studied by all group members. In the current experiments, we tested the impact of picture-stimuli valence, picture-stimuli arousal, and information distribution in modulating the magnitude of collaborative inhibition. We included both younger and older adults because there are age differences in how people remember emotional pictures that could modulate any effects of emotion on collaborative inhibition. Results revealed that when information was shared (i.e., studied by all group members), there were robust collaborative inhibition effects for both neutral and emotional stimuli for both younger and older adults. However, when information was unshared (i.e., studied by only a single group member), these effects were attenuated. Together, these results provide mixed support for the retrieval strategy disruption account of collaborative inhibition. Supporting the retrieval strategy disruption account, unshared study information was less susceptible to collaborative inhibition than shared study information. Contradicting the retrieval strategy disruption account, emotional valence and arousal did not modulate the magnitude of collaborative inhibition despite the fact that participants clustered the emotional, but not neutral, information together in memory.

Memory for Medication Side Effects in Younger and Older Adults: The Role of Subjective and Objective Importance

PubMed Central

Friedman, Michael C.; McGillivray, Shannon; Murayama, Kou; Castel, Alan D.

2014-01-01

Older adults often experience memory impairments, but can sometimes use selective processing and schematic support to remember important information. The current experiments investigate to what degree younger and healthy older adults remember medication side effects that were subjectively or objectively important to remember. Participants studied a list of common side effects, and rated how negative these effects were if they were to experience them, and were then given a free recall test. In Experiment 1, the severity of the side effects ranged from mild (e.g., itching) to severe (e.g., stroke), and in Experiment 2, certain side effects were indicated as critical to remember (i.e., “contact your doctor if you experience this”). There were no age differences in terms of free recall of the side effects, and older adults remembered more severe side effects relative to mild effects. However, older adults were less likely to recognize critical side effects on a later recognition test, relative to younger adults. The findings suggest that older adults can selectively remember medication side effects, but have difficulty identifying familiar but potentially critical side effects, and this has implications for monitoring medication use in older age. PMID:25331278

Mind-wandering in younger and older adults: converging evidence from the Sustained Attention to Response Task and reading for comprehension.

PubMed

Jackson, Jonathan D; Balota, David A

2012-03-01

One mechanism that has been hypothesized to contribute to older adults' changes in cognitive performance is goal neglect or impairment in maintaining task set across time. Mind-wandering and task-unrelated thought may underlie these potential age-related changes. The present study investigated age-related changes in mind-wandering in three different versions of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), along with self-reported mind-wandering during a reading for comprehension task. In the SART, both younger and older adults produced similar levels of faster reaction times before No-Go errors of commission, whereas, older adults produced disproportionate post-error slowing. Subjective self-reports of mind-wandering recorded during the SART and the reading task indicated that older adults were less likely to report mind-wandering than younger adults. Discussion focuses on cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may account for older adults' relatively low levels of reported mind-wandering.

Understanding the effect of workload on automation use for younger and older adults.

PubMed

McBride, Sara E; Rogers, Wendy A; Fisk, Arthur D

2011-12-01

This study examined how individuals, younger and older, interacted with an imperfect automated system. The impact of workload on performance and automation use was also investigated. Automation is used in situations characterized by varying levels of workload. As automated systems spread to domains such as transportation and the home, a diverse population of users will interact with automation. Research is needed to understand how different segments of the population use automation. Workload was systematically manipulated to create three levels (low, moderate, high) in a dual-task scenario in which participants interacted with a 70% reliable automated aid. Two experiments were conducted to assess automation use for younger and older adults. Both younger and older adults relied on the automation more than they complied with it. Among younger adults, high workload led to poorer performance and higher compliance, even when that compliance was detrimental. Older adults' performance was negatively affected by workload, but their compliance and reliance were unaffected. Younger and older adults were both able to use and double-check an imperfect automated system. Workload affected how younger adults complied with automation, particularly with regard to detecting automation false alarms. Older adults tended to comply and rely at fairly high rates overall, and this did not change with increased workload. Training programs for imperfect automated systems should vary workload and provide feedback about error types, and strategies for identifying errors. The ability to identify automation errors varies across individuals, thereby necessitating training.

The Age Conundrum: A Scoping Review of Younger Age or Adolescent and Young Adult as a Risk Factor for Clinical Distress, Depression, or Anxiety in Cancer

PubMed Central

David, Victoria; Giese-Davis, Janine

2015-01-01

This scoping review was conducted to understand the extent, range, and nature of current research on adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer and distress, depression, and anxiety (DDA). This information is necessary to find and aggregate valuable data on the AYA population embedded in generalized studies of DDA. Keyword searches of six relevant electronic databases identified 2156 articles, with 316 selected for abstract review and 40 for full text review. Full-text reviews and data extraction resulted in 34 studies being included, which ranged widely in design, sample size, age-range categorization, analysis methods, DDA measurement tool, overall study rigor, and quality of evidence. Studies very seldom reported using theory to guide their age categorization, with only four studies giving any rationale for their age-group definitions. All 34 studies found a significant association between at least one DDA construct and the younger age group relative to the older age groups at some point along the cancer trajectory. However, age as an independent risk factor for DDA is still unclear, as the relationship could be confounded by other age-related factors. Despite the wide range of definitions and effect sizes in the studies included in this review, one thing is clear: adolescents and young adults, however defined, are a distinct group within the cancer population with an elevated risk of DDA. Widespread adoption of a standard AYA age-range definition will be essential to any future meta-analytical psycho-oncology research in this population. PMID:26697266

The Age Conundrum: A Scoping Review of Younger Age or Adolescent and Young Adult as a Risk Factor for Clinical Distress, Depression, or Anxiety in Cancer.

PubMed

Lang, Michael J; David, Victoria; Giese-Davis, Janine

2015-12-01

This scoping review was conducted to understand the extent, range, and nature of current research on adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer and distress, depression, and anxiety (DDA). This information is necessary to find and aggregate valuable data on the AYA population embedded in generalized studies of DDA. Keyword searches of six relevant electronic databases identified 2156 articles, with 316 selected for abstract review and 40 for full text review. Full-text reviews and data extraction resulted in 34 studies being included, which ranged widely in design, sample size, age-range categorization, analysis methods, DDA measurement tool, overall study rigor, and quality of evidence. Studies very seldom reported using theory to guide their age categorization, with only four studies giving any rationale for their age-group definitions. All 34 studies found a significant association between at least one DDA construct and the younger age group relative to the older age groups at some point along the cancer trajectory. However, age as an independent risk factor for DDA is still unclear, as the relationship could be confounded by other age-related factors. Despite the wide range of definitions and effect sizes in the studies included in this review, one thing is clear: adolescents and young adults, however defined, are a distinct group within the cancer population with an elevated risk of DDA. Widespread adoption of a standard AYA age-range definition will be essential to any future meta-analytical psycho-oncology research in this population.

Following your heart or your head: focusing on emotions versus information differentially influences the decisions of younger and older adults.

PubMed

Mikels, Joseph A; Löckenhoff, Corinna E; Maglio, Sam J; Goldstein, Mary K; Garber, Alan; Carstensen, Laura L

2010-03-01

Research on aging has indicated that whereas deliberative cognitive processes decline with age, emotional processes are relatively spared. To examine the implications of these divergent trajectories in the context of health care choices, we investigated whether instructional manipulations emphasizing a focus on feelings or details would have differential effects on decision quality among younger and older adults. We presented 60 younger and 60 older adults with health care choices that required them to hold in mind and consider multiple pieces of information. Instructional manipulations in the emotion-focus condition asked participants to focus on their emotional reactions to the options, report their feelings about the options, and then make a choice. In the information-focus condition, participants were instructed to focus on the specific attributes, report the details about the options, and then make a choice. In a control condition, no directives were given. Manipulation checks indicated that the instructions were successful in eliciting different modes of processing. Decision quality data indicate that younger adults performed better in the information-focus than in the control condition whereas older adults performed better in the emotion-focus and control conditions than in the information-focus condition. Findings support and extend extant theorizing on aging and decision making as well as suggest that interventions to improve decision-making quality should take the age of the decision maker into account.

Reducing the framing effect in older and younger adults by encouraging analytic processing.

PubMed

Thomas, Ayanna K; Millar, Peter R

2012-03-01

The present study explored whether the framing effect could be reduced in older and younger adults using techniques that influenced the accessibility of information relevant to the decision-making processing. Accessibility was manipulated indirectly in Experiment 1 by having participants engage in concurrent tasks, and directly in Experiment 2, through an instructions manipulation that required participants to maintain a goal of analytic processing throughout the experimental trial. We tested 120 older and 120 younger adults in Experiment 1. Participants completed 28 decision trials while concurrently either performing a probability calculation task or a memory task. In Experiment 2, we tested 136 older and 136 younger adults. Participants completed 48 decision trials after either having been instructed to "think like a scientist" or base decisions on "gut reactions." Results demonstrated that the framing effect was reduced in older and younger adults in the probability calculation task in Experiment 1 and under the "think like a scientist" instructions manipulation in Experiment 2. These results suggest that when information relevant to unbiased decision making was made more accessible, both older and younger adults were able to reduce susceptibility to the framing effect.

The test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change of spatial and temporal gait variability during usual over-ground walking for younger and older adults.

PubMed

Almarwani, Maha; Perera, Subashan; VanSwearingen, Jessie M; Sparto, Patrick J; Brach, Jennifer S

2016-02-01

Gait variability is a marker of gait performance and future mobility status in older adults. Reliability of gait variability has been examined mainly in community dwelling older adults who are likely to fluctuate over time. The purpose of this study was to compare test-retest reliability and determine minimal detectable change (MDC) of spatial and temporal gait variability in younger and older adults. Forty younger (mean age=26.6 ± 6.0 years) and 46 older adults (mean age=78.1 ± 6.2 years) were included in the study. Gait characteristics were measured twice, approximately 1 week apart, using a computerized walkway (GaitMat II). Participants completed 4 passes on the GaitMat II at their self-selected walking speed. Test-retest reliability was calculated using Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs(2,1)), 95% limits of agreement (95% LoA) in conjunction with Bland-Altman plots, relative limits of agreement (LoA%) and standard error of measurement (SEM). The MDC at 90% and 95% level were also calculated. ICCs of gait variability ranged 0.26-0.65 in younger and 0.28-0.74 in older adults. The LoA% and SEM were consistently higher (i.e. less reliable) for all gait variables in older compared to younger adults except SEM for step width. The MDC was consistently larger for all gait variables in older compared to younger adults except step width. ICCs were of limited utility due to restricted ranges in younger adults. Based on absolute reliability measures and MDC, younger had greater test-retest reliability and smaller MDC of spatial and temporal gait variability compared to older adults. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Arousal and Context on Recognition Memory for Emotional Pictures in Younger and Older Adults.

PubMed

Wang, Yang; Yang, Jiongjiong

2017-01-01

Background/Study Context: Previous studies found that older adults tend to remember more positive than negative information (i.e., positivity bias), leading to an age-related positivity effect. However, the extent to which factors of arousal and contextual information influence the positivity bias in older adults remains to be determined. In this study, 27 Chinese younger adults (20.00 ± 1.75 years) and 33 Chinese older adults (70.76 ± 5.49) learned pictures with negative, positive, and neutral valences. Half of the pictures had a human context, and the other half did not. In addition, emotional dimensions of negative and positive pictures were divided into high-arousal and low-arousal. The experimental task was to provide old/new recognition and confidence rating judgments. Both groups of subjects showed the positivity bias for low-arousal pictures, but the positivity bias was restricted to low-arousal pictures without the human context in older adults. In addition, the positivity bias was mainly driven by the recollection process in younger adults, and it was mainly driven by both the recollection and familiarity processes in older adults. The recognition of the nonhuman positive pictures was correlated with cognitive control abilities, but the recognition of pictures with human contexts was correlated with general memory abilities in older adults. This study highlights the importance of arousal and contextual information in modulating emotional memory in younger and older adults. It suggests that there are different mechanisms for memorizing pictures with and without human contexts in older adults.

Effects of arousal and context on recognition memory for emotional pictures in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Wang, Yang; Yang, Jiongjiong

2017-01-01

Background/Study context Previous studies found that older adults tend to remember more positive than negative information (i.e., positivity bias), leading to an age-related positivity effect. However, the extent to which factors of arousal and contextual information influence the positivity bias in older adults remains to be determined. Methods In this study, 27 Chinese younger adults (20.00±1.75 years) and 33 Chinese older adults (70.76 ± 5.49) learned pictures with negative, positive and neutral valences. Half of the pictures had a human context, and the other half did not. In addition, emotional dimensions of negative and positive pictures were divided into high-arousal and low-arousal. The experimental task was to provide old/new recognition and confidence rating judgments. Results Both groups of subjects showed the positivity bias for low-arousal pictures, but the positivity bias was restricted to low-arousal pictures without the human context in older adults. In addition, the positivity bias was mainly driven by the recollection process in younger adults, and it was mainly driven by both the recollection and familiarity processes in older adults. The recognition of the nonhuman positive pictures was correlated with cognitive control abilities, but the recognition of pictures with human contexts was correlated with general memory abilities in older adults. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of arousal and contextual information in modulating emotional memory in younger and older adults. It suggests that there are different mechanisms for memorizing pictures with and without human contexts in older adults. PMID:28230422

Enhancing Spatial Attention and Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults.

PubMed

Rolle, Camarin E; Anguera, Joaquin A; Skinner, Sasha N; Voytek, Bradley; Gazzaley, Adam

2017-09-01

Daily experiences demand both focused and broad allocation of attention for us to interact efficiently with our complex environments. Many types of attention have shown age-related decline, although there is also evidence that such deficits may be remediated with cognitive training. However, spatial attention abilities have shown inconsistent age-related differences, and the extent of potential enhancement of these abilities remains unknown. Here, we assessed spatial attention in both healthy younger and older adults and trained this ability in both age groups for 5 hr over the course of 2 weeks using a custom-made, computerized mobile training application. We compared training-related gains on a spatial attention assessment and spatial working memory task to age-matched controls who engaged in expectancy-matched, active placebo computerized training. Age-related declines in spatial attention abilities were observed regardless of task difficulty. Spatial attention training led to improved focused and distributed attention abilities as well as improved spatial working memory in both younger and older participants. No such improvements were observed in either of the age-matched control groups. Note that these findings were not a function of improvements in simple response time, as basic motoric function did not change after training. Furthermore, when using change in simple response time as a covariate, all findings remained significant. These results suggest that spatial attention training can lead to enhancements in spatial working memory regardless of age.

Enhancing Spatial Attention and Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Rolle, Camarin E.; Anguera, Joaquin A.; Skinner, Sasha N.; Voytek, Bradley; Gazzaley, Adam

2018-01-01

Daily experiences demand both focused and broad allocation of attention for us to interact efficiently with our complex environments. Many types of attention have shown age-related decline, although there is also evidence that such deficits may be remediated with cognitive training. However, spatial attention abilities have shown inconsistent age-related differences, and the extent of potential enhancement of these abilities remains unknown. Here, we assessed spatial attention in both healthy younger and older adults and trained this ability in both age groups for 5 hr over the course of 2 weeks using a custom-made, computerized mobile training application. We compared training-related gains on a spatial attention assessment and spatial working memory task to age-matched controls who engaged in expectancy-matched, active placebo computerized training. Age-related declines in spatial attention abilities were observed regardless of task difficulty. Spatial attention training led to improved focused and distributed attention abilities as well as improved spatial working memory in both younger and older participants. No such improvements were observed in either of the age-matched control groups. Note that these findings were not a function of improvements in simple response time, as basic motoric function did not change after training. Furthermore, when using change in simple response time as a covariate, all findings remained significant. These results suggest that spatial attention training can lead to enhancements in spatial working memory regardless of age. PMID:28654361

Back to the Future: Past and Future Era-Based Schematic Support and Associative Memory for Prices in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Castel, Alan D.; McGillivray, Shannon; Worden, Kendell M.

2014-01-01

Older adults typically display various associative memory deficits, but these deficits can be reduced when conditions allow for the use of prior knowledge or schematic support. To determine how era-specific schematic support and future simulation might influence associative memory, we examined how younger and older adults remember prices from the past as well as the future. Younger and older adults were asked to imagine the past or future, and then studied items and prices from approximately 40 years ago (market value prices from the 1970s) or 40 years in the future. In Experiment 1, all items were common items (e.g., movie ticket, coffee) and the associated prices reflected the era in question, whereas in Experiment 2, some item-price pairs were specific to the time period (e.g., typewriter, robot maid), to test different degrees of schematic support. After studying the pairs, participants were shown each item and asked to recall the associated price. In both experiments, older adults showed similar performance as younger adults in the past condition for the common items, whereas age-related differences were greater in the future condition and for the era-specific items. The findings suggest that in order for schematic support to be effective, recent (and not simply remote) experience is needed in order to enhance memory. Thus, whereas older adults can benefit from “turning back the clock,” younger adults better remember future-oriented information compared with older adults, outlining age-related similarities and differences in associative memory and the efficient use of past and future-based schematic support. PMID:24128073

Thirst for Knowledge: The Effects of Curiosity and Interest on Memory in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

McGillivray, Shannon; Murayama, Kou; Castel, Alan D.

2015-01-01

Given age-related memory impairments, one’s level of curiosity or interest could enhance memory for certain information. In the current study, younger and older adults read trivia questions, rated how curious they were to learn each answer, provided confidence and interest ratings, and judgments of learning (JOL) after learning the answer. No age-related differences in memory were found. Analyses indicated that curiosity and interest contributed to the formation of JOLs. Additionally, interest had a unique increasing relationship with older, but not younger, adults’ memory performance after a week. The results suggest that subjective interest may serve to enhance older adults’ memory. PMID:26479013

Younger vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) are more likely than adults to explore novel objects.

PubMed

Carter, Gerald G; Forss, Sofia; Page, Rachel A; Ratcliffe, John M

2018-01-01

The effects of age on neophobia and exploration are best described in birds and primates, and broader comparisons require reports from other taxa. Here we present data showing age-dependent exploration in a long-lived social species, the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus). A previous study found that vampire bats regurgitated food to partners trapped in a cage. Interestingly, while only a few adult bats visited the trapped bat, in every trial all or most of the eight young males in the colony would visit the trapped bat without feeding it. To test whether this behavioral difference resulted from age class differences in exploration, we compared responses of the bats to a trapped conspecific versus an inanimate novel object. Some adults and young showed interest in trapped conspecifics, but only the young males explored the novel objects. Additional novel object tests in a second captive colony showed that higher rates of novel object exploration were shown by young of both sexes. Our results corroborate past findings from other mammals and birds that age predicts exploration. If age-dependent exploration is indeed adaptive, then the role of age as a predictor of exploration tendency should depend on species-specific life history traits. Finally, because younger vampire bats also appear to have higher exposure to pathogens such as rabies virus, there may be implications for pathogen transmission if younger and more exploratory vampire bats are more likely to feed on novel hosts.

Understanding the Effect of Workload on Automation Use for Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

McBride, Sara E.; Rogers, Wendy A.; Fisk, Arthur D.

2018-01-01

Objective This study examined how individuals, younger and older, interacted with an imperfect automated system. The impact of workload on performance and automation use was also investigated. Background Automation is used in situations characterized by varying levels of workload. As automated systems spread to domains such as transportation and the home, a diverse population of users will interact with automation. Research is needed to understand how different segments of the population use automation. Method Workload was systematically manipulated to create three levels (low, moderate, high) in a dual-task scenario in which participants interacted with a 70% reliable automated aid. Two experiments were conducted to assess automation use for younger and older adults. Results Both younger and older adults relied on the automation more than they complied with it. Among younger adults, high workload led to poorer performance and higher compliance, even when that compliance was detrimental. Older adults’ performance was negatively affected by workload, but their compliance and reliance were unaffected. Conclusion Younger and older adults were both able to use and double-check an imperfect automated system. Workload affected how younger adults complied with automation, particularly with regard to detecting automation false alarms. Older adults tended to comply and rely at fairly high rates overall, and this did not change with increased workload. Application Training programs for imperfect automated systems should vary workload and provide feedback about error types, and strategies for identifying errors. The ability to identify automation errors varies across individuals, thereby necessitating training. PMID:22235529

Exercise Holds Immediate Benefits for Affect and Cognition in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Hogan, Candice L.; Mata, Jutta; Carstensen, Laura L.

2013-01-01

Physical activity is associated with improved affective experience and enhanced cognitive processing. Potential age differences in the degree of benefit, however, are poorly understood because most studies examine either younger or older adults. The present study examined age differences in cognitive performance and affective experience immediately following a single bout of moderate exercise. Participants (144 community members aged 19 to 93) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: (a) exercise (15 min of moderate intensity stationary cycling) or (b) control (15 min completing ratings of neutral IAPS images). Before and after the manipulation, participants completed tests of working memory and momentary affect experience was measured. Results suggest that exercise is associated with increased levels of high-arousal positive affect (HAP) and decreased levels of low-arousal positive affect (LAP) relative to control condition. Age moderated the effects of exercise on LAP, such that younger age was associated with a drop in reported LAP postexercise, whereas the effects of exercise on HAP were consistent across age. Exercise also led to faster RTs on a working memory task than the control condition across age. Self-reported negative affect was unchanged. Overall, findings suggest that exercise may hold important benefits for both affective experience and cognitive performance regardless of age. PMID:23795769

Memory Aging Knowledge and Memory Self-Appraisal in Younger and Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cherry, Katie E.; Brigman, Susan; Reese-Melancon, Celinda; Burton-Chase, Allison; Holland, Kayla

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among memory aging knowledge and memory self-appraisal in college students and community-dwelling older adults. Participants completed the Knowledge of Memory Aging Questionnaire ([KMAQ] Cherry, Brigman, Hawley, & Reese, 2003) and the Memory Functioning Questionnaire ([MFQ] Gilewski,…

Phishing suspiciousness in older and younger adults: The role of executive functioning

PubMed Central

Zhao, Rui; John, Samantha E.; Bussell, Cara A.; Roberts, Jennifer R.; Yue, Chuan

2017-01-01

Phishing is the spoofing of Internet websites or emails aimed at tricking users into entering sensitive information, with such goals as financial or identity theft. The current study sought to determine whether age is associated with increased susceptibility to phishing and whether tests of executive functioning can predict phishing susceptibility. A total of 193 cognitively intact participants, 91 younger adults and 102 older adults, were primarily recruited through a Psychology department undergraduate subject pool and a gerontology research registry, respectively. The Executive Functions Module from the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery and the Iowa Gambling Task were the primary cognitive predictors of reported phishing suspiciousness. Other predictors included age group (older vs. younger), sex, education, race, ethnicity, prior knowledge of phishing, prior susceptibility to phishing, and whether or not browsing behaviors were reportedly different in the laboratory setting versus at home. A logistic regression, which accounted for a 22.7% reduction in error variance compared to the null model and predicted phishing suspiciousness with 73.1% (95% CI [66.0, 80.3]) accuracy, revealed three statistically significant predictors: the main effect of education (b = 0.58, SE = 0.27) and the interactions of age group with prior awareness of phishing (b = 2.31, SE = 1.12) and performance on the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Mazes test (b = 0.16, SE = 0.07). Whether or not older adults reported being suspicious of the phishing attacks used in this study was partially explained by educational history and prior phishing knowledge. This suggests that simple educational interventions may be effective in reducing phishing vulnerability. Although one test of executive functioning was found useful for identifying those at risk of phishing susceptibility, four tests were not found to be useful; these results speak to the need for more ecologically valid tools in

Normative shifts of cortical mechanisms of encoding contribute to adult age differences in visual-spatial working memory.

PubMed

Störmer, Viola S; Li, Shu-Chen; Heekeren, Hauke R; Lindenberger, Ulman

2013-06-01

The capacity of visual-spatial working memory (WM) declines from early to late adulthood. Recent attempts at identifying neural correlates of WM capacity decline have focused on the maintenance phase of WM. Here, we investigate neural mechanisms during the encoding phase as another potential mechanism contributing to adult age differences in WM capacity. We used electroencephalography to track neural activity during encoding and maintenance on a millisecond timescale in 35 younger and 35 older adults performing a visual-spatial WM task. As predicted, we observed pronounced age differences in ERP indicators of WM encoding: Younger adults showed attentional selection during item encoding (N2pc component), but this selection mechanism was greatly attenuated in older adults. Conversely, older adults showed more pronounced signs of early perceptual stimulus processing (N1 component) than younger adults. The amplitude modulation of the N1 component predicted WM capacity in older adults, whereas the attentional amplitude modulation of the N2pc component predicted WM capacity in younger adults. Our findings suggest that adult age differences in mechanisms of WM encoding contribute to adult age differences in limits of visual-spatial WM capacity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age Invariance in Semantic and Episodic Metamemory: Both Younger and Older Adults Provide Accurate Feeling of Knowing For Names of Faces

PubMed Central

Eakin, Deborah K.; Hertzog, Christopher; Harris, William

2013-01-01

Age differences in feeling-of-knowing (FOK) accuracy were examined for both episodic memory and semantic memory. Younger and older adults either viewed pictures of famous faces (semantic memory) or associated nonfamous faces and names (episodic memory) and were tested on their memory for the name of the presented face. Participants viewed the faces again and made a FOK prediction about future recognition of the name associated with the presented face. Finally, four-alternative forced-choice recognition memory for the name, cued by the face, was tested and confidence judgments (CJs) were collected for each recognition response. Age differences were not obtained in semantic memory or the resolution of semantic FOKs, defined by within-person correlations of FOKs with recognition memory performance. Although age differences were obtained in level of episodic memory, there were no age differences in the resolution of episodic FOKs. FOKs for correctly recognized items correlated reliably with CJs for both types of materials, and did not differ by age group. The results indicate age invariance in monitoring of retrieval processes for name-face associations. PMID:23537379

Age invariance in semantic and episodic metamemory: both younger and older adults provide accurate feeling-of-knowing for names of faces.

PubMed

Eakin, Deborah K; Hertzog, Christopher; Harris, William

2014-01-01

Age differences in feeling-of-knowing (FOK) accuracy were examined for both episodic memory and semantic memory. Younger and older adults either viewed pictures of famous faces (semantic memory) or associated non-famous faces and names (episodic memory) and were tested on their memory for the name of the presented face. Participants viewed the faces again and made a FOK prediction about future recognition of the name associated with the presented face. Finally, four-alternative forced-choice recognition memory for the name, cued by the face, was tested and confidence judgments (CJs) were collected for each recognition response. Age differences were not obtained in semantic memory or the resolution of semantic FOKs, defined by within-person correlations of FOKs with recognition memory performance. Although age differences were obtained in level of episodic memory, there were no age differences in the resolution of episodic FOKs. FOKs for correctly recognized items correlated reliably with CJs for both types of materials, and did not differ by age group. The results indicate age invariance in monitoring of retrieval processes for name-face associations.

Understanding Adult Age Differences in the Frequency of Problems With Friends.

PubMed

Schlosnagle, Leo; Strough, JoNell

2017-01-01

We investigated characteristics of younger and older adults' friendships. Younger (N = 39) and older (N = 39) adults completed measures pertaining to a specific friend they had (i.e., contact frequency, positive friendship quality, and negative friendship quality) and their frequency of problems with friends in general. Older adults reported fewer problems with friends in general, and fewer negative friendship qualities, less frequent contact, and more positive friendship qualities with a specific friend than younger adults. Contact frequency, positive friendship quality, and negative friendship quality with a specific friend were related to frequency of problems with friends in general, but only contact frequency was a significant mediator of the relation between age and frequency of problems with friends in general. Results show that characteristics of a specific friendship relate to problems with friends in general, and that contact frequency with a specific friend mediates the relation between age and problems with friends in general. Implications are discussed. © The Author(s) 2016.

An Examination of the Social Networks and Social Isolation in Older and Younger Adults Living with HIV/AIDS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emlet, Charles A.

2006-01-01

This study examined social networks and social isolation in older (50 years or more) and younger (ages 20 to 39) adults with HIV/AIDS. The author conducted interviews with 88 individuals living with HIV/AIDS in the Pacific Northwest. Both groups' social networks had similar patterns; however, older adults were more likely to live alone. More than…

Back to the future: past and future era-based schematic support and associative memory for prices in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Castel, Alan D; McGillivray, Shannon; Worden, Kendell M

2013-12-01

Older adults typically display various associative memory deficits, but these deficits can be reduced when conditions allow for the use of prior knowledge or schematic support. To determine how era-specific schematic support and future simulation might influence associative memory, we examined how younger and older adults remember prices from the past as well as the future. Younger and older adults were asked to imagine the past or future, and then studied items and prices from approximately 40 years ago (market value prices from the 1970s) or 40 years in the future. In Experiment 1, all items were common items (e.g., movie ticket, coffee) and the associated prices reflected the era in question, whereas in Experiment 2, some item-price pairs were specific to the time period (e.g., typewriter, robot maid), to test different degrees of schematic support. After studying the pairs, participants were shown each item and asked to recall the associated price. In both experiments, older adults showed similar performance as younger adults in the past condition for the common items, whereas age-related differences were greater in the future condition and for the era-specific items. The findings suggest that in order for schematic support to be effective, recent (and not simply remote) experience is needed in order to enhance memory. Thus, whereas older adults can benefit from "turning back the clock," younger adults better remember future-oriented information compared with older adults, outlining age-related similarities and differences in associative memory and the efficient use of past and future-based schematic support. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Does increasing the intelligibility of a competing sound source interfere more with speech comprehension in older adults than it does in younger adults?

PubMed

Lu, Zihui; Daneman, Meredyth; Schneider, Bruce A

2016-11-01

A previous study (Schneider, Daneman, Murphy, & Kwong See, 2000) found that older listeners' decreased ability to recognize individual words in a noisy auditory background was responsible for most, if not all, of the comprehension difficulties older adults experience when listening to a lecture in a background of unintelligible babble. The present study investigated whether the use of a more intelligible distracter (a competing lecture) might reveal an increased susceptibility to distraction in older adults. The results from Experiments 1 and 2 showed that both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired older adults performed poorer than younger adults when everyone was tested in identical listening situations. However, when the listening situation was individually adjusted to compensate for age-related differences in the ability to recognize individual words in noise, age-related difference in comprehension disappeared. Experiment 3 compared the masking effects of a single-talker competing lecture to a babble of 12 voices directly after adjusting for word recognition. The results showed that the competing lecture interfered more than did the babble for both younger and older listeners. Interestingly, an increase in the level of noise had a deleterious effect on listening when the distractor was babble but had no effect when it was a competing lecture. These findings indicated that the speech comprehension difficulties of healthy older adults in noisy backgrounds primarily reflect age-related declines in the ability to recognize individual words.

Digital Clock Drawing: differentiating "thinking" versus "doing" in younger and older adults with depression.

PubMed

Cohen, Jamie; Penney, Dana L; Davis, Randall; Libon, David J; Swenson, Rodney A; Ajilore, Olusola; Kumar, Anand; Lamar, Melissa

2014-10-01

Psychomotor slowing has been documented in depression. The digital Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) provides: (i) a novel technique to assess both cognitive and motor aspects of psychomotor speed within the same task and (ii) the potential to uncover subtleties of behavior not previously detected with non-digitized modes of data collection. Using digitized pen technology in 106 participants grouped by Age (younger/older) and Affect (euthymic/unmedicated depressed), we recorded cognitive and motor output by capturing how the clock is drawn rather than focusing on the final product. We divided time to completion (TTC) for Command and Copy conditions of the dCDT into metrics of percent of drawing (%Ink) versus non-drawing (%Think) time. We also obtained composite Z-scores of cognition, including attention/information processing (AIP), to explore associations of %Ink and %Think times to cognitive and motor performance. Despite equivalent TTC, %Ink and %Think Command times (Copy n.s.) were significant (AgeXAffect interaction: p=.03)-younger depressed spent a smaller proportion of time drawing relative to thinking compared to the older depressed group. Command %Think time negatively correlated with AIP in the older depressed group (r=-.46; p=.02). Copy %Think time negatively correlated with AIP in the younger depressed (r=-.47; p=.03) and older euthymic groups (r=-.51; p=.01). The dCDT differentiated aspects of psychomotor slowing in depression regardless of age, while dCDT/cognitive associates for younger adults with depression mimicked patterns of older euthymics.

Mind-wandering in Younger and Older Adults: Converging Evidence from the Sustained Attention to Response Task and Reading for Comprehension

PubMed Central

Jackson, Jonathan D.; Balota, David A.

2011-01-01

One mechanism that has been hypothesized to contribute to older adults’ changes in cognitive performance is goal neglect or impairment in maintaining task set across time. Mind-wandering and task-unrelated thought may underlie these potential age-related changes. The present study investigated age-related changes in mind-wandering in three different versions of the Sustained Attention to Response task (SART), along with self-reported mind-wandering during a reading for comprehension task. In the SART, both younger and older adults produced similar levels of faster reaction times before No-Go errors of commission, whereas, older adults produced disproportionate post-error slowing. Subjective self-reports of mind-wandering recorded during the SART and the reading task indicated that older adults were less likely to report mind-wandering than younger adults. Discussion focuses on cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may account for older adults’ relatively low levels of reported mind-wandering. PMID:21707183

A comparison of HIV stigma and disclosure patterns between older and younger adults living with HIV/AIDS.

PubMed

Emlet, Charles A

2006-05-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between age, HIV-related stigma, and patterns of disclosure. Previous literature has suggested that older age is associated with increased HIV stigma and less disclosure of HIV status. Eighty-eight individuals, 44 between the ages of 20-39 and 44 aged 50 and over were recruited for the study through an AIDS service organization in the Pacific Northwest. Subjects in each group were matched as closely as possible by gender, ethnicity, HIV exposure and diagnosis. In a comparison of sociodemographic characteristics, older adults (50+) were significantly more likely to live alone, and to be retired. Younger adults were significantly more likely to be never married/ partnered, unemployed and be recipients of Medicaid. Bivariate analysis revealed no significant differences in overall stigma scores between groups; however, younger adults were more likely to fear losing their job because of HIV. Older adults were less likely to disclose HIV to relatives, partners, mental health workers, neighbors, and church members than those 20-39 years of age. Pearson product moment correlations found disclosure to be significantly associated with time since diagnosis, heterosexual exposure, ethnicity, use of HIV services, and having a confidant. Stigma was associated with ethnicity, having a confidant, and instrumental social support. In a multiple regressions analysis, 48.4% of the variance in disclosure accounted for by time since first diagnosis, service use, and having a confidant. Service use was the only independent variable significantly associated with stigma, accounting for 21.6% of the variance.

Adult Age Differences in Accessing and Retrieving Information from Long-Term Memory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petros, Thomas V.; And Others

1983-01-01

Investigated adult age differences in accessing and retrieving information from long-term memory. Results showed that older adults (N=26) were slower than younger adults (N=35) at feature extraction, lexical access, and accessing category information. The age deficit was proportionally greater when retrieval of category information was required.…

Gist-based memory for prices and "better buys" in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Flores, Cynthia C; Hargis, Mary B; McGillivray, Shannon; Friedman, Michael C; Castel, Alan D

2017-04-01

Ageing typically leads to various memory deficits which results in older adults' tendency to remember more general information and rely on gist memory. The current study examined if younger and older adults could remember which of two comparable grocery items (e.g., two similar but different jams) was paired with a lower price (the "better buy"). Participants studied lists of grocery items and their prices, in which the two items in each category were presented consecutively (Experiment 1), or separated by intervening items (Experiment 2). At test, participants were asked to identify the "better buy" and recall the price of both items. There were negligible age-related differences for the "better buy" in Experiment 1, but age-related differences were present in Experiment 2 when there were greater memory demands involved in comparing the two items. Together, these findings suggest that when price information of two items can be evaluated and compared within a short period of time, older adults can form stable gist-based memory for prices, but that this is impaired with longer delays. We relate the findings to age-related changes in the use of gist and verbatim memory when remembering prices, as well as the associative deficit account of cognitive ageing.

A multi-level analysis of the effects of age and gender stereotypes on trust in anthropomorphic technology by younger and older adults.

PubMed

Pak, Richard; McLaughlin, Anne Collins; Bass, Brock

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that gender stereotypes, elicited by the appearance of the anthropomorphic technology, can alter perceptions of system reliability. The current study examined whether stereotypes about the perceived age and gender of anthropomorphic technology interacted with reliability to affect trust in such technology. Participants included a cross-section of younger and older adults. Through a factorial survey, participants responded to health-related vignettes containing anthropomorphic technology with a specific age, gender, and level of past reliability by rating their trust in the system. Trust in the technology was affected by the age and gender of the user as well as its appearance and reliability. Perceptions of anthropomorphic technology can be affected by pre-existing stereotypes about the capability of a specific age or gender. The perceived age and gender of automation can alter perceptions of the anthropomorphic technology such as trust. Thus, designers of automation should design anthropomorphic interfaces with an awareness that the perceived age and gender will interact with the user’s age and gender

Exercise holds immediate benefits for affect and cognition in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Hogan, Candice L; Mata, Jutta; Carstensen, Laura L

2013-06-01

Physical activity is associated with improved affective experience and enhanced cognitive processing. Potential age differences in the degree of benefit, however, are poorly understood because most studies examine either younger or older adults. The present study examined age differences in cognitive performance and affective experience immediately following a single bout of moderate exercise. Participants (144 community members aged 19 to 93) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: (a) exercise (15 min of moderate intensity stationary cycling) or (b) control (15 min completing ratings of neutral IAPS images). Before and after the manipulation, participants completed tests of working memory and momentary affect experience was measured. Results suggest that exercise is associated with increased levels of high-arousal positive affect (HAP) and decreased levels of low-arousal positive affect (LAP) relative to control condition. Age moderated the effects of exercise on LAP, such that younger age was associated with a drop in reported LAP postexercise, whereas the effects of exercise on HAP were consistent across age. Exercise also led to faster RTs on a working memory task than the control condition across age. Self-reported negative affect was unchanged. Overall, findings suggest that exercise may hold important benefits for both affective experience and cognitive performance regardless of age. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

The ‘apparent clearance’ of free phenytoin in elderly vs. younger adults

PubMed Central

Wright, Daniel F B; Begg, Evan J

2010-01-01

AIMS To test the hypothesis that the ‘apparent clearance’ of free phenytoin is reduced in elderly patients. METHODS Two separate studies were conducted comparing free phenytoin ‘apparent clearance’ in elderly vs. younger adults. The first study was a retrospective analysis of free phenytoin concentrations measured at Christchurch Hospital from 1997 to 2006. In the second study free phenytoin concentrations were measured prospectively in ambulatory subjects who were taking phenytoin regularly. RESULTS In the retrospective study (n = 29), free phenytoin ‘apparent clearance’ was 0.27 ± 0.04 l kg−1 day−1 (95% CI 0.19, 0.34) in the elderly cohort vs. 0.37 ± 0.06 l kg−1 day−1 (95% CI 0.22, 0.52) in younger adults, but the difference was not statistically significant. In the prospective study, free phenytoin ‘apparent clearance’ showed a non-significant trend to being reduced in the elderly patients (0.12 ± 0.02 l kg−1 day−1, 95% CI 0.07, 0.17) compared with the younger cohort (0.18 ± 0.07 l kg−1 day−1, 95% CI 0.09, 0.26) in those not taking interacting drugs (n = 21). CONCLUSIONS This research does not prove the hypothesis that the ‘apparent clearance’ of free phenytoin is reduced in the elderly. However, the trends found in these two studies are supported by trends in the same direction in other published studies, suggesting an age effect. PMID:20642556

Task-set switching under cue-based versus memory-based switching conditions in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Kray, Jutta

2006-08-11

Adult age differences in task switching and advance preparation were examined by comparing cue-based and memory-based switching conditions. Task switching was assessed by determining two types of costs that occur at the general (mixing costs) and specific (switching costs) level of switching. Advance preparation was investigated by varying the time interval until the next task (short, middle, very long). Results indicated that the implementation of task sets was different for cue-based switching with random task sequences and memory-based switching with predictable task sequences. Switching costs were strongly reduced under cue-based switching conditions, indicating that task-set cues facilitate the retrieval of the next task. Age differences were found for mixing costs and for switching costs only under cue-based conditions in which older adults showed smaller switching costs than younger adults. It is suggested that older adults adopt a less extreme bias between two tasks than younger adults in situations associated with uncertainty. For cue-based switching with random task sequences, older adults are less engaged in a complete reconfiguration of task sets because of the probability of a further task change. Furthermore, the reduction of switching costs was more pronounced for cue- than memory-based switching for short preparation intervals, whereas the reduction of switch costs was more pronounced for memory- than cue-based switching for longer preparation intervals at least for older adults. Together these findings suggest that the implementation of task sets is functionally different for the two types of task-switching conditions.

Dual-Task Processing in Younger and Older Adults: Similarities and Differences Revealed by fMRI

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, Alan A.; Jonides, John; Sylvester, Ching-Yune C.

2011-01-01

fMRI was used to explore age differences in the neural substrate of dual-task processing. Brain activations when there was a 100 ms SOA between tasks, and task overlap was high, were contrasted with activations when there was a 1000 ms SOA, and first task processing was largely complete before the second task began. Younger adults (M = 21 yrs)…

The impact of glucose ingestion and gluco-regulatory control on cognitive performance: a comparison of younger and middle aged adults.

PubMed

Meikle, Andrew; Riby, Leigh M; Stollery, Brian

2004-12-01

A great deal of research has been devoted to the issue of whether the ingestion of a glucose containing drink facilitates cognitive performance. However, it remains unclear exactly how age and individual differences in gluco-regulatory control mediate a boost in cognitive functioning. The present study investigates these issues further. A repeated measures (25 g vs 50 g glucose vs placebo) counterbalanced, double-blind design was used with 25 younger and middle-aged adults. A battery of memory and non-memory tasks was administered; including tests of episodic and semantic memory, attention and visuospatial functioning. Glucose ingestion largely facilitated performance on tasks with a memory component. Notably, task demands and age (young vs middle-aged) contributed to the magnitude of memory enhancement. This finding suggests an age- and load-specific benefit of glucose intake. In addition, evidence suggests greater facilitation in individuals with good glucose regulation. These data are discussed in relation to the idea that glucose specifically affects neural mechanisms supporting memory functioning (i.e. the hippocampus), which are known to decline in ageing. Importantly, the present investigation adds to the growing body of literature showing the utility of glucose supplementation as memory enhancers. 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reported exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors: the roles of adult age and global perceived stress.

PubMed

Stawski, Robert S; Sliwinski, Martin J; Almeida, David M; Smyth, Joshua M

2008-03-01

A central goal of daily stress research is to identify resilience and vulnerability factors associated with exposure and reactivity to daily stressors. The present study examined how age differences and global perceptions of stress relate to exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors. Sixty-seven younger (M age = 20) and 116 older (M age = 80) adults completed a daily stress diary and measures of positive and negative affect on 6 days over a 14-day period. Participants also completed a measure of global perceived stress. Results revealed that reported exposure to daily stressors is reduced in old age but that emotional reactivity to daily stressors did not differ between younger and older adults. Global perceived stress was associated with greater reported exposure to daily stressors in older adults and greater stress-related increases in negative affect in younger adults. Furthermore, across days on which daily stressors were reported, intraindividual variability in the number and severity of stressors reported was associated with increased negative affect, but only among younger adults. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Feature-based interference from unattended visual field during attentional tracking in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Störmer, Viola S; Li, Shu-Chen; Heekeren, Hauke R; Lindenberger, Ulman

2011-02-01

The ability to attend to multiple objects that move in the visual field is important for many aspects of daily functioning. The attentional capacity for such dynamic tracking, however, is highly limited and undergoes age-related decline. Several aspects of the tracking process can influence performance. Here, we investigated effects of feature-based interference from distractor objects that appear in unattended regions of the visual field with a hemifield-tracking task. Younger and older participants performed an attentional tracking task in one hemifield while distractor objects were concurrently presented in the unattended hemifield. Feature similarity between objects in the attended and unattended hemifields as well as motion speed and the number of to-be-tracked objects were parametrically manipulated. The results show that increasing feature overlap leads to greater interference from the unattended visual field. This effect of feature-based interference was only present in the slow speed condition, indicating that the interference is mainly modulated by perceptual demands. High-performing older adults showed a similar interference effect as younger adults, whereas low-performing adults showed poor tracking performance overall.

Decision-making competence in younger and older adults: which cognitive abilities contribute to the application of decision rules?

PubMed

Rosi, Alessia; Bruine de Bruin, Wändi; Del Missier, Fabio; Cavallini, Elena; Russo, Riccardo

2017-12-28

Older adults perform worse than younger adults when applying decision rules to choose between options that vary along multiple attributes. Although previous studies have shown that general fluid cognitive abilities contribute to the accurate application of decision rules, relatively little is known about which specific cognitive abilities play the most important role. We examined the independent roles of working memory, verbal fluency, semantic knowledge, and components of executive functioning. We found that age-related decline in applying decision rules was statistically mediated by age-related decline in working memory and verbal fluency. Our results have implications for theories of aging and decision-making.

Time perspective and social preference in older and younger adults: Effects of self-regulatory fatigue.

PubMed

Segerstrom, Suzanne C; Geiger, Paul J; Combs, Hannah L; Boggero, Ian A

2016-09-01

Socioemotional selectivity theory predicts that when perceived time in life is limited, people will prefer emotionally close social partners over less emotionally rewarding partners. Regulating social choices with regard to time perspective can make the best use of time with regard to well-being. However, doing so may depend on the self-regulatory capacity of the individual. Two studies, 1 with younger adults (N = 101) and 1 with younger (N = 42) and older (N = 39) adults, experimentally tested the effects of time perspective and self-regulatory fatigue on preferences for emotionally close partners and knowledgeable partners. In both studies and across younger and older adults, when self-regulatory fatigue was low, the perception of limited time resulted in a greater preference for close social partners relative to knowledgeable social partners. However, this shift was eliminated by self-regulatory fatigue. In Study 2, when fatigued, younger adults preferred close social partners to knowledgeable partners across time perspectives; older adults preferred close and knowledgeable partners more equally across time perspectives. These findings have implications for social decision-making and satisfaction among people who experience chronic self-regulatory fatigue. They also contradict previous suggestions that only younger adults are susceptible to self-regulatory fatigue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Time Perspective and Social Preference in Older and Younger Adults: Effects of Self-Regulatory Fatigue

PubMed Central

Segerstrom, Suzanne C.; Geiger, Paul J.; Combs, Hannah L.; Boggero, Ian A.

2016-01-01

Socioemotional selectivity theory predicts that when perceived time in life is limited, people will prefer emotionally close social partners over less emotionally rewarding partners. Regulating social choices with regard to time perspective can make the best use of time with regard to well-being. However, doing so may depend on the self-regulatory capacity of the individual. Two studies, one with younger adults (N = 101) and one with younger (N = 42) and older (N = 39) adults, experimentally tested the effects of time perspective and self-regulatory fatigue on preferences for emotionally close partners and knowledgeable partners. In both studies and across younger and older adults, when self-regulatory fatigue was low, the perception of limited time resulted in a greater preference for close social partners relative to knowledgeable social partners. However, this shift was eliminated by self-regulatory fatigue. In Study 2, when fatigued, younger adults preferred close social partners to knowledgeable partners across time perspectives; older adults preferred close and knowledgeable partners more equally across time perspectives. These findings have implications for social decision-making and satisfaction among people who experience chronic self-regulatory fatigue. They also contradict previous suggestions that only younger adults are susceptible to self-regulatory fatigue. PMID:27243763

From development to aging: Holistic face perception in children, younger and older adults.

PubMed

Meinhardt-Injac, Bozana; Boutet, Isabelle; Persike, Malte; Meinhardt, Günter; Imhof, Margarete

2017-01-01

Few published reports examine the development of holistic face processing across the lifespan such that face-specific processes are adequately differentiated from general developmental effects. To address this gap in the literature, we used the complete design of the composite paradigm (Richler & Gauthier, 2014) with faces and non-face control objects (watches) to investigate holistic processing in children (8-10years), young adults (20-32years) and older adults (65-78years). Several modifications to past research designs were introduced to improve the ability to draw conclusions about the development of holistic processing in terms of face-specificity, response bias, and age-related differences in attention. Attentional focus (narrow vs. wide focus at study) influenced the magnitude of the composite effect without eliminating holistic face processing in all age groups. Young adults showed large composite effects for faces, but none for watches. In contrast, older adults and children showed composite effects for both faces and watches, although the effects for faces were larger. Our findings suggest that holistic processing, as measured by the composite effect, might be moderated by less efficient attentional control in children and older adults. The study also underscores the importance of including comparable complex objects when investigating face processing across the lifespan. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strategies adopted by younger and older adults while operating a non-pedal tricycle.

PubMed

Calve, Tatiane; Russo Júnior, Douglas Vicente; Barela, Ana Maria Forti

Exercises that could prevent gait impairment of older adults should be implemented in such a way that practitioners can keep motivation and adherence independent of older adults fitness levels. This study describes how younger and older adults use a non-pedal tricycle to transport their bodies along a pathway. Nine younger (24±4.9y) and nine older (66±4.0y) adults participated in this study. They moved along a straight pathway at a self-selected comfortable speed with reflective markers on their main lower limb landmarks. A computerized gait analysis system with infrared cameras was used to obtain kinematic data to calculate spatial-temporal parameters and lower limb angles. Overall, participants from both groups were able to perform the task moving at a similar mean speed, with similar stride length and ankle joint excursion. Older adults had higher cadence (mean difference of 17steps/min; 95% CI=0.99-1.15) and hip excursion (mean difference of 12°; 95% CI=28-33), longer stance duration (mean difference of 3.4%; 95% CI=56.2-59.5), and lower knee excursion (mean difference of 6°; 95% CI=47.9-53.8) than younger adults. Older adults were able to transport their body with a non-pedal tricycle with more hip and less knee excursion than younger adults. Professionals that work with the older population should look at and take into consideration the use of non-pedal tricycles in exercise protocols and investigate the long-term impacts. Copyright © 2017 Associação Brasileira de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Fisioterapia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Exploring Interhemispheric Collaboration in Older Compared to Younger Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cherry, Barbara J.; Yamashiro, Mariana; Anderson, Erin; Barrett, Christopher; Adamson, Maheen M.; Hellige, Joseph B.

2010-01-01

Physical and Name Identity letter-matching tasks were used to explore differences in interhemispheric collaboration in younger and older adults. To determine whether other factors might also be related to across/within-hemisphere processing or visual field asymmetries, neuropsychological tests measuring frontal/executive functioning were…

Risky decision making across three arenas of choice: are younger and older adults differently susceptible to framing effects?

PubMed

Rönnlund, Michael; Karlsson, Erik; Laggnäs, Erica; Larsson, Lisa; Lindström, Therese

2005-01-01

In the present study, the authors investigated the effects of framing of options on risky decision making in groups of younger adults (M = 23.8 years, n = 192) and older adults (M = 69.1 years, n = 192). The participants were assigned to one of three scenarios varying in the goods at stake (human lives, paintings, money). The authors observed a majority preference in favor of the risky options after negative, but not positive framing. They also found, as they had predicted, that the type of framing effect varied across scenarios, with a bidirectional framing effect for the life-death scenario and unidirectional (risk averse) framing effects when public property (paintings) or personal property (money) were at stake. It is important to note that these choice preference patterns were highly similar across the age groups, which reinforced the conclusion that younger and older adults are equally susceptible to framing effects.

Adult Age Differences in Production and Monitoring in Dual-List Free Recall

PubMed Central

Wahlheim, Christopher N.; Ball, B. Hunter; Richmond, Lauren L.

2017-01-01

The present experiment examined adult age differences in the production and monitoring of responses in dual-list free recall. Younger and older adults studied two lists of unrelated words and were instructed to recall from List 1, List 2, or List 1 and List 2. An externalized free recall (EFR) procedure required participants to: 1) report all responses that came to mind while recalling from specific lists, 2) classify responses as correct or incorrect, and 3) provide confidence judgments for their accuracy classifications. Relative to younger adults, older adults showed a monitoring deficit by misclassifying proportionally more responses and discriminating more poorly between correct and incorrect responses in their confidence judgments. This deficit was especially pronounced under conditions of retroactive interference that occurred when participants recalled from List 1 only. A comparison of retrieval dynamics for all responses produced and for those that participants were reasonably confident were correct provided information about age differences in preretrieval context reinstatement and postretrieval monitoring of retrieved context. One noteworthy finding was that total production when recalling from List 1 showed that List 2 responses remained more accessible across the first several retrieval attempts for older than younger adults, which indicated a substantial age difference in the ability to reinstate List 1 context. Overall, the present findings provide a nuanced characterization of age differences in the operation of production and monitoring mechanisms under conditions of proactive and retroactive interference that can inform models of free recall. PMID:28206784

Factors associated with the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccination in older and younger adults: a large, population-based survey in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Wu, Shuangsheng; Su, Jianting; Yang, Peng; Zhang, Haiyan; Li, Hongjun; Chu, Yanhui; Hua, Weiyu; Li, Chao; Tang, Yaqing; Wang, Quanyi

2017-09-25

The present study aimed to estimate the influenza vaccination coverage rate in Beijing, China, and identify its determinants in older and younger adults. A survey was conducted among Chinese adults using a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire in May-June 2015. The main outcome was seasonal influenza vaccination uptake. Multivariate logistic regression models were performed to identify factors associated with uptake. A total of 7106 participants completed the questionnaire. The overall coverage rate was 20.6% (95% CI 19.7% to 21.5%) in the 2014/2015 influenza season. Lower education (older adults: OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.1; younger adults: OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.4 to 2.6), having a chronic illness (older adults: OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.5 to 2.4; younger adults: OR 1.4; 95% CI 1.2 to 1.7) and recommendations from healthcare workers (older adults: OR 5.4; 95% CI 3.9 to 7.4; younger adults: OR 4.5; 95% CI 3.7 to 5.4) were positively associated with uptake; perceived side effects of vaccination had a negative impact (older adults: OR 0.6; 95% CI 0.4 to 0.7; younger adults: OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.7 to 1.0). Perceived susceptibility to influenza (OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.0) and awareness of the free influenza vaccine policy (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.9) were only associated with vaccine uptake in older adults, while perceived effectiveness of vaccination (OR 2.2; 95% CI 1.7 to 2.8) was only a predictor for younger adults. Older adults were more likely to receive recommendations from healthcare professionals and perceive the severity of seasonal influenza, and less likely to worry about side effects of vaccination. The influenza vaccination coverage rate was relatively low in Beijing. Apart from free vaccinations for older adults, age disparity in the rate between older and younger adults (48.7% vs 16.0%) may be explained by differing professional recommendations and public perceptions. Vaccination campaigns targeting increasing professional recommendations and

Affective Norms for Italian Words in Older Adults: Age Differences in Ratings of Valence, Arousal and Dominance

PubMed Central

Fairfield, Beth; Ambrosini, Ettore; Mammarella, Nicola; Montefinese, Maria

2017-01-01

In line with the dimensional theory of emotional space, we developed affective norms for words rated in terms of valence, arousal and dominance in a group of older adults to complete the adaptation of the Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) for Italian and to aid research on aging. Here, as in the original Italian ANEW database, participants evaluated valence, arousal, and dominance by means of the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) in a paper-and-pencil procedure. We observed high split-half reliabilities within the older sample and high correlations with the affective ratings of previous research, especially for valence, suggesting that there is large agreement among older adults within and across-languages. More importantly, we found high correlations between younger and older adults, showing that our data are generalizable across different ages. However, despite this across-ages accord, we obtained age-related differences on three affective dimensions for a great number of words. In particular, older adults rated as more arousing and more unpleasant a number of words that younger adults rated as moderately unpleasant and arousing in our previous affective norms. Moreover, older participants rated negative stimuli as more arousing and positive stimuli as less arousing than younger participants, thus leading to a less-curved distribution of ratings in the valence by arousal space. We also found more extreme ratings for older adults for the relationship between dominance and arousal: older adults gave lower dominance and higher arousal ratings for words rated by younger adults with middle dominance and arousal values. Together, these results suggest that our affective norms are reliable and can be confidently used to select words matched for the affective dimensions of valence, arousal and dominance across younger and older participants for future research in aging. PMID:28046070

Metabolic syndrome and risk of acute coronary syndromes in patients younger than 45 years of age.

PubMed

Milionis, Haralampos J; Kalantzi, Kallirroi J; Papathanasiou, Athanasios J; Kosovitsas, Athanasios A; Doumas, Michael T; Goudevenos, John A

2007-06-01

There is a paucity of data with regard to the association of the metabolic syndrome with cardiovascular risk in young adults. We investigated the association of the metabolic syndrome with acute coronary syndrome in adults aged 45 years or younger. A total of 136 consecutive patients (128 men and eight women; mean age, 41.2+/-3.7 years) presenting with a first-ever acute coronary syndrome, and 136 age-matched and sex-matched controls were evaluated. The diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome was established according to the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in the patients' group compared with the control group (40.4 versus 23.5%; P=0.003). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking, positive family history of premature coronary artery disease, and the metabolic syndrome were associated with odds ratios 4.46 (95% confidence interval, 2.30-8.66; P<0.001), 3.11 (95% confidence interval, 1.71-5.66; P<0.001), and 1.97 (95% confidence interval, 1.08-3.56; P=0.02) higher odds, respectively, of having an acute coronary syndrome, after taking into account the matching for age and sex and controlling for potential confounders. Moreover, a 10-mg/dl increase in total cholesterol was associated with 1.06 higher odds of having an acute coronary syndrome. Analysis of interaction showed that smoking and a positive family history of premature coronary artery disease in young individuals with metabolic syndrome had an incremental effect on the odds of suffering an acute coronary syndrome (odds ratio, 7.12; 95% confidence interval, 2.42-20.96; P<0.001). The metabolic syndrome is highly associated with acute coronary syndrome in patients younger than 45 years of age, indicating the need for early and intensive preventive measures.

[A clinical study on pulmonary tuberculosis in younger age groups].

PubMed

Takahara, M; Suzuki, T; Toyota, E; Kobayashi, N; Kawada, H; Kudoh, K

2000-04-01

In 1997, the number of newly registered patients with pulmonary tuberculosis increased, compared with that in 1996, in Japan. The majority of the increase were occupied by elder patients 70 years of age or higher. But in younger group less than 30 years old, a reduction in the incidence of tuberculosis had been slowed down, until 1996. The purpose of this report is to elucidate the characteristics of these younger patients. 139 cases younger than 30 years of age, who were hospitalized in the tuberculous ward of IMCJ from April 1995 to March 1998, were investigated, and were compared with the control group (557 cases), 30-79 years old who were hospitalized during the same period. In the younger group, the proportion of women cases, discovered by health examination, foreigners, and contact with TB patients in the past was significantly higher than in the control group. But there were no difference between the both groups, concerning the proportion of those spending irregular life or living alone. The proportion of sputa smear negative cases was significantly higher in the younger group than in the control. For early diagnosis of TB among younger group, the application of bronchofiberscopy and nucleic acid diagnostic method, are encouraged.

Memory for general and specific value information in younger and older adults: measuring the limits of strategic control.

PubMed

Castel, Alan D; Farb, Norman A S; Craik, Fergus I M

2007-06-01

The ability to selectively remember important information is a critical function of memory. Although previous research has suggested that older adults are impaired in a variety of episodic memory tasks, recent work has demonstrated that older adults can selectively remember high-value information. In the present research, we examined how younger and older adults selectively remembered words with various assigned numeric point values, to see whether younger adults could remember more specific value information than could older adults. Both groups were equally good at recalling point values when recalling the range of high-value words, but younger adults outperformed older adults when recalling specific values. Although older adults were more likely to recognize negative value words, both groups exhibited control by not recalling negative value information. The findings suggest that although both groups retain high-value information, older adults rely more on gist-based encoding and retrieval operations, whereas younger adults are able to remember specific numeric value information.

Improving visual spatial working memory in younger and older adults: effects of cross-modal cues.

PubMed

Curtis, Ashley F; Turner, Gary R; Park, Norman W; Murtha, Susan J E

2017-11-06

Spatially informative auditory and vibrotactile (cross-modal) cues can facilitate attention but little is known about how similar cues influence visual spatial working memory (WM) across the adult lifespan. We investigated the effects of cues (spatially informative or alerting pre-cues vs. no cues), cue modality (auditory vs. vibrotactile vs. visual), memory array size (four vs. six items), and maintenance delay (900 vs. 1800 ms) on visual spatial location WM recognition accuracy in younger adults (YA) and older adults (OA). We observed a significant interaction between spatially informative pre-cue type, array size, and delay. OA and YA benefitted equally from spatially informative pre-cues, suggesting that attentional orienting prior to WM encoding, regardless of cue modality, is preserved with age.  Contrary to predictions, alerting pre-cues generally impaired performance in both age groups, suggesting that maintaining a vigilant state of arousal by facilitating the alerting attention system does not help visual spatial location WM.

Development of a modified prognostic index for patients with aggressive adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma aged 70 years or younger: possible risk-adapted management strategies including allogeneic transplantation.

PubMed

Fuji, Shigeo; Yamaguchi, Takuhiro; Inoue, Yoshitaka; Utsunomiya, Atae; Moriuchi, Yukiyoshi; Uchimaru, Kaoru; Owatari, Satsuki; Miyagi, Takashi; Taguchi, Jun; Choi, Ilseung; Otsuka, Eiichi; Nakachi, Sawako; Yamamoto, Hisashi; Kurosawa, Saiko; Tobinai, Kensei; Fukuda, Takahiro

2017-07-01

Adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma is a distinct type of peripheral T-cell lymphoma caused by human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I. Although allogeneic stem cell transplantation after chemotherapy is a recommended treatment option for patients with aggressive adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma, there is no consensus about indications for allogeneic stem cell transplantation because there is no established risk stratification system for transplant eligible patients. We conducted a nationwide survey of patients with aggressive adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma in order to construct a new, large database that includes 1,792 patients aged 70 years or younger with aggressive adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma who were diagnosed between 2000 and 2013 and received intensive first-line chemotherapy. We randomly divided patients into two groups (training and validation sets). Acute type, poor performance status, high soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels (> 5,000 U/mL), high adjusted calcium levels (≥ 12 mg/dL), and high C-reactive protein levels (≥ 2.5 mg/dL) were independent adverse prognostic factors used in the training set. We used these five variables to divide patients into three risk groups. In the validation set, median overall survival for the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups was 626 days, 322 days, and 197 days, respectively. In the intermediate- and high-risk groups, transplanted recipients had significantly better overall survival than non-transplanted patients. We developed a promising new risk stratification system to identify patients aged 70 years or younger with aggressive adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma who may benefit from upfront allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Prospective studies are warranted to confirm the benefit of this treatment strategy. Copyright© 2017 Ferrata Storti Foundation.

Memory for positive, negative and neutral events in younger and older adults: Does emotion influence binding in event memory?

PubMed

Earles, Julie L; Kersten, Alan W; Vernon, Laura L; Starkings, Rachel

2016-01-01

When remembering an event, it is important to remember both the features of the event (e.g., a person and an action) and the connections among features (e.g., who performed which action). Emotion often enhances memory for stimulus features, but the relationship between emotion and the binding of features in memory is unclear. Younger and older adults attempted to remember events in which a person performed a negative, positive or neutral action. Memory for the action was enhanced by emotion, but emotion did not enhance the ability of participants to remember which person performed which action. Older adults were more likely than younger adults to make binding errors in which they incorrectly remembered a familiar actor performing a familiar action that had actually been performed by someone else, and this age-related associative deficit was found for both neutral and emotional actions. Emotion not only increased correct recognition of old events for older and younger adults but also increased false recognition of events in which a familiar actor performed a familiar action that had been performed by someone else. Thus, although emotion may enhance memory for the features of an event, it does not increase the accuracy of remembering who performed which action.

Inconsistency in serial choice decision and motor reaction times dissociate in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Bunce, David; MacDonald, Stuart W S; Hultsch, David F

2004-12-01

Intraindividual variability (inconsistency) in reaction time (RT) latencies was investigated in a group of younger (M=25.46 years) and older (M=69.29 years) men. Both groups performed 300 trials in 2-, 4-, and 8-choice RT conditions where RTs for decision and motor components of the task were recorded separately. A dissociation was evident in that inconsistency was greater in older adults for decision RTs when task demands relating to the number of choices and fatigue arising from time-on-task were high. For younger persons, a weak trend toward greater inconsistency in motor RTs was evident. The results are consistent with accounts suggesting that inconsistency in neurobiological mechanisms increases with age, and that attentional lapses or fluctuations in executive control contribute to RT inconsistency.

Problematic computer game use among adolescents, younger and older adults.

PubMed

Festl, Ruth; Scharkow, Michael; Quandt, Thorsten

2013-03-01

Playing digital games has been associated with forms of addictive behavior. Past research on the subject has often been criticized on theoretical and empirical grounds, due mainly to measurement or sampling issues. The present study aims to overcome these two limitations, and presents data from a representative study in Germany using an already established instrument for measuring problematic game use. Large-scale, representative study using a computer-assisted telephone survey. Germany. A total of 580 adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age, 1866 younger adults between 19-39 years and 1936 older adults aged 40 years and older (overall n = 4382). Problematic game use was measured with the Gaming Addiction Short Scale (GAS), which covers seven criteria including salience, withdrawal and conflicts. Additionally, differential aspects of personality, as well as gaming behaviour, were measured. Only seven respondents [0.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1, 0.3] met all criteria of the GAS Scale. In contrast, 3.7% (95% CI: 3.1, 4.3) of the respondents can be considered problematic users, meeting at least half these conditions. The percentage of problematic gamers among adolescents is above average (7.6%, 95% CI: 5.6, 10.1). High GAS scores are associated with aggression, low sociability and self-efficacy and lower satisfaction with life. Additionally, these scores correspond with intensive use and preferences for certain gaming genres across all age groups. Following Gaming Addiction Short Scale criteria, gaming addiction is currently not a widespread phenomenon among adolescents and adults in Germany. Gaming Addiction Short Scale scores are associated with intensive use, as well as certain problematic aspects of individuals' personalities and social lives. © 2012 The Authors, Addiction © 2012 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Age Variation in the Association Between Obesity and Mortality in Adults.

PubMed

Wang, Zhiqiang; Peng, Yang; Liu, Meina

2017-12-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the previously reported finding that the association between obesity and mortality strengthens with increasing age. The data were derived from the National Health Interview Survey. Age-specific hazard ratios of mortality for grade 2/3 obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m 2 ), relative to a BMI of 18.5 kg/m 2 to < 25 kg/m 2 , were calculated by using a flexible parametric survival model (240,184 white men) and Cox proportional hazard models (51,697 matched pairs). When the model included interaction terms between obesity and age at the survey, hazard ratios appeared to increase with age if those interaction terms were ignored by fixing age at the survey as a single value. However, when recalculated for adults with various ages at the survey, according to model specifications, hazard ratios were higher for younger adults than for older adults with the same follow-up duration. Based on matched data, hazard ratios were also higher for younger adults (2.14 [95% CI: 1.90-2.40] for those 40-49 years of age) than for older adults (1.22 [95%: 0.91-1.63] for those 90+ years of age). For any given follow-up duration, the association between obesity and mortality weakens with age. The previously reported strengthening of the obesity-mortality association with increasing age was caused by the failure to take all the model specifications into consideration when calculating adjusted hazard ratios. © 2017 The Obesity Society.

No smile like another: adult age differences in identifying emotions that accompany smiles.

PubMed

Riediger, Michaela; Studtmann, Markus; Westphal, Andrea; Rauers, Antje; Weber, Hannelore

2014-01-01

People smile in various emotional contexts, for example, when they are amused or angry or simply being polite. We investigated whether younger and older adults differ in how well they are able to identify the emotional experiences accompanying smile expressions, and whether the age of the smiling person plays a role in this respect. With this aim, we produced 80 video episodes of three types of smile expressions: positive-affect smiles had been spontaneously displayed by target persons as they were watching amusing film clips and cartoons. Negative-affect smiles had been displayed spontaneously by target persons during an interaction in which they were being unfairly accused. Affectively neutral smiles were posed upon request. Differences in the accompanying emotional experiences were validated by target persons' self-reports. These smile videos served as experimental stimuli in two studies with younger and older adult participants. In Study 1, older participants were less likely to attribute positive emotions to smiles, and more likely to assume that a smile was posed. Furthermore, younger participants were more accurate than older adults at identifying emotional experiences accompanying smiles. In Study 2, both younger and older participants attributed positive emotions more frequently to smiles shown by older as compared to younger target persons, but older participants did so less frequently than younger participants. Again, younger participants were more accurate than older participants in identifying emotional experiences accompanying smiles, but this effect was attenuated for older target persons. Older participants could better identify the emotional state accompanying smiles shown by older than by younger target persons. Taken together, these findings indicate that there is an age-related decline in the ability to decipher the emotional meaning of smiles presented without context, which, however, is attenuated when the smiling person is also an older adult.

No smile like another: adult age differences in identifying emotions that accompany smiles

PubMed Central

Riediger, Michaela; Studtmann, Markus; Westphal, Andrea; Rauers, Antje; Weber, Hannelore

2014-01-01

People smile in various emotional contexts, for example, when they are amused or angry or simply being polite. We investigated whether younger and older adults differ in how well they are able to identify the emotional experiences accompanying smile expressions, and whether the age of the smiling person plays a role in this respect. With this aim, we produced 80 video episodes of three types of smile expressions: positive-affect smiles had been spontaneously displayed by target persons as they were watching amusing film clips and cartoons. Negative-affect smiles had been displayed spontaneously by target persons during an interaction in which they were being unfairly accused. Affectively neutral smiles were posed upon request. Differences in the accompanying emotional experiences were validated by target persons' self-reports. These smile videos served as experimental stimuli in two studies with younger and older adult participants. In Study 1, older participants were less likely to attribute positive emotions to smiles, and more likely to assume that a smile was posed. Furthermore, younger participants were more accurate than older adults at identifying emotional experiences accompanying smiles. In Study 2, both younger and older participants attributed positive emotions more frequently to smiles shown by older as compared to younger target persons, but older participants did so less frequently than younger participants. Again, younger participants were more accurate than older participants in identifying emotional experiences accompanying smiles, but this effect was attenuated for older target persons. Older participants could better identify the emotional state accompanying smiles shown by older than by younger target persons. Taken together, these findings indicate that there is an age-related decline in the ability to decipher the emotional meaning of smiles presented without context, which, however, is attenuated when the smiling person is also an older adult

Divided attention in younger and older adults: effects of strategy and relatedness on memory performance and secondary task costs.

PubMed

Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe; Craik, Fergus I M; Guez, Jonathan; Kreuger, Sharyn

2005-05-01

Divided attention at encoding leads to a significant decline in memory performance, whereas divided attention during retrieval has relatively little effect; nevertheless, retrieval carries significant secondary task costs, especially for older adults. The authors further investigated the effects of divided attention in younger and older adults by using a cued-recall task and by measuring retrieval accuracy, retrieval latency, and the temporal distribution of attentional costs at encoding and retrieval. An age-related memory deficit was reduced by pair relatedness, whereas strategy instructions benefited both age groups equally. Attentional costs were greater for retrieval than for encoding, especially for older adults. These findings are interpreted in light of notions of an age-related associative deficit (M. Naveh-Benjamin, 2000) and age-related differences in the use of self-initiated activities and environmental support (F. I. M. Craik, 1983, 1986).

Self-projection in younger and older adults: a study of episodic memory, prospection, and theory of mind.

PubMed

Jarvis, Shoshana N; Miller, Jeremy K

2017-07-01

Self-projection is the ability to orient the self in different places in time and space. Episodic memory, prospection, and theory of mind (ToM) are all cognitive abilities that share an element of self-projection. Previous research has posited that each of these abilities stems from the same neural network. The current study compared performance of cognitively healthy older adults and younger adults on several self-projection tasks to examine the relatedness of these constructs behaviorally. Episodic memory and prospection were measured using an episodic interview task where the participants were asked to remember or imagine events that either had happened in the past or could happen in the future and then gave ratings describing the extent to which they were mentally experiencing the event and from what perspective they viewed it. ToM was measured by asking participants to make judgments regarding the intentions of characters described in stories that involved cognitive, affective, or ironic components. Our results demonstrate that aging influences episodic memory, prospection, and ToM similarly: older adult participants showed declines on each of these measures compared to younger adults. Further, we observed correlations between performance on the measures of episodic memory and prospection as well as between episodic memory and ToM, although no correlation between prospection and ToM was observed after controlling for chronological age. We discuss these results in the light of theories suggesting that each of these abilities is governed by a common brain system.

Adult age differences in production and monitoring in dual-list free recall.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N; Ball, B Hunter; Richmond, Lauren L

2017-06-01

The present experiment examined adult age differences in the production and monitoring of responses in dual-list free recall. Younger and older adults studied 2 lists of unrelated words and were instructed to recall from List 1, List 2, or List 1 and List 2. An externalized free recall procedure required participants to: (a) report all responses that came to mind while recalling from specific lists, (b) classify responses as correct or incorrect, and (c) provide confidence judgments for their accuracy classifications. Relative to younger adults, older adults showed a monitoring deficit by misclassifying proportionally more responses and discriminating more poorly between correct and incorrect responses in their confidence judgments. This deficit was especially pronounced under conditions of retroactive interference that occurred when participants recalled from List 1 only. A comparison of retrieval dynamics for all responses produced and for those that participants were reasonably confident were correct provided information about age differences in preretrieval context reinstatement and postretrieval monitoring of retrieved context. One noteworthy finding was that total production when recalling from List 1 showed that List 2 responses remained more accessible across the first several retrieval attempts for older than younger adults, which indicated a substantial age difference in the ability to reinstate List 1 context. Overall, the present findings provide a nuanced characterization of age differences in the operation of production and monitoring mechanisms under conditions of proactive and retroactive interference that can inform models of free recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A Diffusion Model Analysis of Adult Age Differences in Episodic and Semantic Long-Term Memory Retrieval

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spaniol, Julia; Madden, David J.; Voss, Andreas

2006-01-01

Two experiments investigated adult age differences in episodic and semantic long-term memory tasks, as a test of the hypothesis of specific age-related decline in context memory. Older adults were slower and exhibited lower episodic accuracy than younger adults. Fits of the diffusion model (R. Ratcliff, 1978) revealed age-related increases in…

Infliximab therapy in pediatric patients 7 years of age and younger.

PubMed

Kelsen, Judith R; Grossman, Andrew B; Pauly-Hubbard, Helen; Gupta, Kernika; Baldassano, Robert N; Mamula, Petar

2014-12-01

Infliximab (IFX) is efficacious for induction and maintenance of remission in pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It has, however, not been studied in patients 7 years old and younger. Our aim was to characterize efficacy and safety of IFX therapy in this cohort. This was a retrospective study of patients with IBD ages 7 years and younger, treated with IFX between 1999 and 2011. Medical records were reviewed for age of diagnosis, disease phenotype, therapy, surgery, IFX infusion dates, dose, and intervals. Outcome measures included physician global assessment, corticosteroid requirement, and adverse events. Thirty-three children (ages 2.4-7 years) were included. Twenty patients had Crohn disease, 4 had ulcerative colitis, and 9 had indeterminate colitis. Maintenance of IFX therapy at 1, 2, and 3 years was 36%, 18%, and 12%, respectively. Patients of age 5 years and younger had the lowest rates of maintenance of therapy at 25% at year 1, and 10% at years 2 and 3 combined. Nine percent of all of the patients demonstrated response measured by the physician global assessment and were steroid free at 1 year. There were 8 infusion reactions. There were no malignancies, serious infections, or deaths. IFX demonstrated a modest response rate and a low steroid-sparing effect in patients with IBD 7 years old and younger. Although this is a limited study, there appears to be a trend for decreased sustained efficacy with IFX in this age group, particularly in children 5 years old and younger, when compared with the previously published literature in older children.

Working memory and the strategic control of attention in older and younger adults.

PubMed

Hayes, Melissa G; Kelly, Andrew J; Smith, Anderson D

2013-03-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of aging on the strategic control of attention and the extent to which this relationship is mediated by working memory capacity (WMC). This study also sought to investigate boundary conditions wherein age differences in selectivity may occur. Across 2 studies, the value-directed remembering task used by Castel and colleagues (Castel, A. D., Balota, D. A., & McCabe, D. P. (2009). Memory efficiency and the strategic control of attention at encoding: Impairments of value-directed remembering in Alzheimer's Disease. Neuropsychology, 23, 297-306) was modified to include value-directed forgetting. Study 2 incorporated valence as an additional task demand, and age differences were predicted in both studies due to increased demands of controlled processing. Automated operation span and Stroop span were included as working memory measures, and working memory was predicted to mediate performance. Results confirmed these predictions, as older adults were less efficient in maximizing selectivity scores when high demands were placed on selectivity processes, and working memory was found to mediate performance on this task. When list length was increased from previous studies and participants were required to actively forget negative-value words, older adults were not able to selectively encode high-value information to the same degree as younger adults. Furthermore, WMC appears to support the ability to selectively encode information.

Autobiographical memory conjunction errors in younger and older adults: Evidence for a role of inhibitory ability

PubMed Central

Devitt, Aleea L.; Tippett, Lynette; Schacter, Daniel L.; Addis, Donna Rose

2016-01-01

Because of its reconstructive nature, autobiographical memory (AM) is subject to a range of distortions. One distortion involves the erroneous incorporation of features from one episodic memory into another, forming what are known as memory conjunction errors. Healthy aging has been associated with an enhanced susceptibility to conjunction errors for laboratory stimuli, yet it is unclear whether these findings translate to the autobiographical domain. We investigated the impact of aging on vulnerability to AM conjunction errors, and explored potential cognitive processes underlying the formation of these errors. An imagination recombination paradigm was used to elicit AM conjunction errors in young and older adults. Participants also completed a battery of neuropsychological tests targeting relational memory and inhibition ability. Consistent with findings using laboratory stimuli, older adults were more susceptible to AM conjunction errors than younger adults. However, older adults were not differentially vulnerable to the inflating effects of imagination. Individual variation in AM conjunction error vulnerability was attributable to inhibitory capacity. An inability to suppress the cumulative familiarity of individual AM details appears to contribute to the heightened formation of AM conjunction errors with age. PMID:27929343

Short-term changes in general and memory-specific control beliefs and their relationship to cognition in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Bielak, Allison A M; Hultsch, David F; Levy-Ajzenkopf, Judi; MacDonald, Stuart W S; Hunter, Michael A; Strauss, Esther

2007-01-01

We examined short-term changes in younger and older adults' control beliefs. Participants completed measures of general and memory-specific competence and locus of control on 10 bi-monthly occasions. At each occasion, participants rated their control beliefs prior to and following completion of a battery of cognitive tasks. Exposure to the set of cognitively demanding tasks led to declines in older adults' ratings of both general and memory-specific competence compared to little change or increases in younger adults' ratings. Older adults were also more inconsistent in their reported locus of control beliefs across the 10 occasions. Analyses examining the relationship between control beliefs and actual cognitive performance revealed few significant effects, suggesting that short-term changes in perceived control are not driven by monitoring changes in actual performance. The results suggest the importance of assessing short-term as well as long-term changes in perceived control to obtain a complete picture of aging-related changes.

Familiar real-world spatial cues provide memory benefits in older and younger adults.

PubMed

Robin, Jessica; Moscovitch, Morris

2017-05-01

Episodic memory, future thinking, and memory for scenes have all been proposed to rely on the hippocampus, and evidence suggests that these all decline in healthy aging. Despite this age-related memory decline, studies examining the effects of context reinstatement on episodic memory have demonstrated that reinstating elements of the encoding context of an event leads to better memory retrieval in both younger and older adults. The current study was designed to test whether more familiar, real-world contexts, such as locations that participants visited often, would improve the detail richness and vividness of memory for scenes, autobiographical events, and imagination of future events in young and older adults. The predicted age-related decline in internal details across all 3 conditions was accompanied by persistent effects of contextual familiarity, in which a more familiar spatial context led to increased detail and vividness of remembered scenes, autobiographical events, and, to some extent, imagined future events. This study demonstrates that autobiographical memory, imagination of the future, and scene memory are similarly affected by aging, and all benefit from being associated with more familiar (real-world) contexts, illustrating the stability of contextual reinstatement effects on memory throughout the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Digital clock drawing: Differentiating ‘thinking’ versus ‘doing’ in younger and older adults with depression

PubMed Central

Cohen, Jamie; Penney, Dana L.; Davis, Randall; Libon, David J.; Swenson, Rodney A.; Ajilore, Olusola; Kumar, Anand; Lamar, Melissa

2015-01-01

Objective Psychomotor slowing has been documented in depression. The digital Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) provides: i) a novel technique to assess both cognitive and motor aspects of psychomotor speed within the same task and ii) the potential to uncover subtleties of behavior not previously detected with non-digitized modes of data collection. Method Using digitized pen technology in 106 participants grouped by Age (younger/older) and Affect (euthymic/unmedicated depressed), we recorded cognitive and motor output by capturing how the clock is drawn rather than focusing on the final product. We divided time to completion (TTC) for Command and Copy conditions of the dCDT into metrics of percent of drawing (%Ink) versus non-drawing (%Think) time. We also obtained composite z-scores of cognition, including attention/ information processing (AIP), to explore associations of %Ink and %Think times to cognitive and motor performance. Results Despite equivalent TTC, %Ink and %Think Command times (Copy n.s.) were significant (AgeXAffect interaction:p=.03)—younger depressed spent a smaller proportion of time drawing relative to thinking compared to the older depressed group. Command %Think time negatively correlated with AIP in the older depressed group (r=−.46;p=.02). Copy %Think time negatively correlated with AIP in the younger depressed (r=−.47;p=.03) and older euthymic groups (r=−.51;p=.01). Conclusion The dCDT differentiated aspects of psychomotor slowing in depression regardless of age, while dCDT/cognitive associates for younger adults with depression mimicked patterns of older euthymics. PMID:25222513

Does language help regularity learning? The influence of verbalizations on implicit sequential regularity learning and the emergence of explicit knowledge in children, younger and older adults.

PubMed

Ferdinand, Nicola K; Kray, Jutta

2017-03-01

This study aimed at investigating the ability to learn regularities across the life span and examine whether this learning process can be supported or hampered by verbalizations. For this purpose, children (aged 8-10 years) and younger (aged 19-30 years) and older (aged 70-80 years) adults took part in a sequence learning experiment. We found that verbalizing sequence-congruent information during learning is a powerful tool to generate explicit knowledge and it is especially helpful for younger adults. Although recent research suggests that implicit learning can be influenced by directing the participants' attention to relevant aspects of the task, verbalizations had a much weaker influence on implicit than explicit learning. Our results show that verbalizing during learning slows down reaction times (RTs) but does not influence the amount of implicit learning. Especially older adults were not able to overcome the cost of the dual-task situation. Younger adults, in contrast, show an initial dual-tasking cost that, in the case of a helpful verbalization, is overcome with practice and turns into a RT and learning benefit. However, when the verbalization is omitted this benefit is lost, that is, better implicit learning seems to be confined to situations in which the supporting verbalization is maintained. Additionally, we did not find reliable age differences in implicit learning in the no verbalization groups, which speaks in favor of age-invariant models of implicit learning across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Decision support aids with anthropomorphic characteristics influence trust and performance in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Pak, Richard; Fink, Nicole; Price, Margaux; Bass, Brock; Sturre, Lindsay

2012-01-01

This study examined the use of deliberately anthropomorphic automation on younger and older adults' trust, dependence and performance on a diabetes decision-making task. Research with anthropomorphic interface agents has shown mixed effects in judgments of preferences but has rarely examined effects on performance. Meanwhile, research in automation has shown some forms of anthropomorphism (e.g. etiquette) have effects on trust and dependence on automation. Participants answered diabetes questions with no-aid, a non-anthropomorphic aid or an anthropomorphised aid. Trust and dependence in the aid was measured. A minimally anthropomorphic aide primarily affected younger adults' trust in the aid. Dependence, however, for both age groups was influenced by the anthropomorphic aid. Automation that deliberately embodies person-like characteristics can influence trust and dependence on reasonably reliable automation. However, further research is necessary to better understand the specific aspects of the aid that affect different age groups. Automation that embodies human-like characteristics may be useful in situations where there is under-utilisation of reasonably reliable aids by enhancing trust and dependence in that aid. Practitioner Summary: The design of decision-support aids on consumer devices (e.g. smartphones) may influence the level of trust that users place in that system and their amount of use. This study is the first step in articulating how the design of aids may influence user's trust and use of such systems.

Older Adults' Online Dating Profiles and Successful Aging.

PubMed

Wada, Mineko; Mortenson, William Bennett; Hurd Clarke, Laura

2016-12-01

This study examined how relevant Rowe and Kahn's three criteria of successful aging were to older adults' self-portrayals in online dating profiles: low probability of disease and disability, high functioning, and active life engagement. In this cross-sectional study, 320 online dating profiles of older adults were randomly selected and coded based on the criteria. Logistic regression analyses determined whether age, gender, and race/ethnicity predicted self-presentation. Few profiles were indicative of successful aging due to the low prevalence of the first two criteria; the third criterion, however, was identified in many profiles. Native Americans were significantly less likely than other ethnic groups to highlight the first two criteria. Younger age predicted presenting the first criterion. Women's presentation of the third criterion remained significantly high with age. The findings suggest that the criteria may be unimportant to older adults when seeking partners, or they may reflect the exclusivity of this construct.

Pressure topography metrics for high-resolution pharyngeal-esophageal manofluorography-a normative study of younger and older adults.

PubMed

Nativ-Zeltzer, N; Logemann, J A; Zecker, S G; Kahrilas, P J

2016-05-01

We aimed to define normative values for novel pressure topography metrics for high-resolution pharyngeal-esophageal manofluorography. The effects of age, gender, and bolus properties were examined. Concurrent high-resolution manometry (HRM) and videofluoroscopy data were collected from 22 younger (aged 21-40) and 22 older (aged 60-80) healthy subjects. Pressure topography was analyzed by correlating pressure domains with videofluoroscopic events. Nine pressure topography metrics of the pharyngeal and proximal esophageal swallow were extracted; four of these were also compared with previously obtained esophageal HRM studies to assess the effects of catheter diameter. Older individuals exhibited more vigorous contractility in the pharynx than did younger subjects with all bolus types, but the greatest values for both groups were with effortful swallow and on that measure the age groups were similar. Upper esophageal sphincter (UES) intrabolus pressure during sphincter opening was also greater in the older subjects. Some gender differences were observed, particularly related to proximal esophageal contractile vigor. Bolus consistency had no consistent effect. Studies using the larger catheter diameter resulted in significantly greater contractile vigor in the UES and proximal esophagus. Older adults exhibited more vigorous pharyngeal contractions than young adults, albeit within a similar range of capacity, perhaps reflecting a compensatory response to other age-related physiological changes. Greater UES intrabolus pressures observed during bolus transit in the older group likely reflect reduced UES compliance with age. Normative data on novel HRM metrics collected in this study can serve as a reference for future clinical studies. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Role of Task Understanding on Younger and Older Adults' Performance.

PubMed

Frank, David J; Touron, Dayna R

2016-12-16

Age-related performance decrements have been linked to inferior strategic choices. Strategy selection models argue that accurate task representations are necessary for choosing appropriate strategies. But no studies to date have compared task representations in younger and older adults. Metacognition research suggests age-related deficits in updating and utilizing strategy knowledge, but other research suggests age-related sparing when information can be consolidated into a coherent mental model. Study 1 validated the use of concept mapping as a tool for measuring task representation accuracy. Study 2 measured task representations before and after a complex strategic task to test for age-related decrements in task representation formation and updating. Task representation accuracy and task performance were equivalent across age groups. Better task representations were related to better performance. However, task representation scores remained fairly stable over the task with minimal evidence of updating. Our findings mirror those in the mental model literature suggesting age-related sparing of strategy use when information can be integrated into a coherent mental model. Future research should manipulate the presence of a unifying context to better evaluate this hypothesis. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Deficits in process-specific prefrontal and hippocampal activations contribute to adult age differences in episodic memory interference.

PubMed

Fandakova, Yana; Lindenberger, Ulman; Shing, Yee Lee

2014-07-01

The ability to distinguish currently relevant from familiar but irrelevant memories is important in everyday life. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural correlates of age differences in the ability to withstand interference from similar past events. Younger and older adults worked on a continuous recognition task consisting of 3 consecutive runs. Each run was composed of the same set of word pairs, and participants were instructed to recognize word pair repetitions within runs. The monitoring demands associated with rejecting familiar, but currently irrelevant information were assumed to increase over consecutive runs. Over runs, older, but not younger adults showed decline in memory performance, whereas younger, but not older adults showed increasing engagement of anterior prefrontal cortex. Individual differences in cortical thickness and task-related activation of anterior prefrontal areas predicted performance differences within and across age groups. Compared with younger adults, older adults also showed a reduced hippocampal response to novel associations of familiar stimuli. We conclude that monitoring deficits due to impaired involvement of prefrontal regions and reduced hippocampal responses to associative novelty contribute to aging-related deficits in disambiguating the contextual information of familiar events. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Differences in anxiety and depression symptoms: comparison between older and younger clinical samples.

PubMed

Wuthrich, Viviana M; Johnco, Carly J; Wetherell, Julie L

2015-09-01

Anxiety and depression symptoms change over the lifespan and older adults use different terms to describe their mental health, contributing to under identification of anxiety and depression in older adults. To date, research has not examined these differences in younger and older samples with comorbid anxiety and depression. One hundred and seven treatment-seeking participants (47 older, 60% female, and 60 younger, 50% female) with anxiety and mood disorders completed the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule and a symptom checklist to examine differences in symptom severity, symptom profiles and terms used to describe anxiety and mood. The findings indicated several key differences between the presentation and description of anxiety and depression in younger and older adults. Older adults with Social Phobia reported fearing a narrower range of social situations and less distress and interference. Older adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) reported less worry about interpersonal relationships and work/school than younger adults, however, there were no differences between age groups for behavioral symptoms endorsed. Further older adults reported phobia of lifts/small spaces more frequently than younger adults. Depressed older depressed adults also reported more anhedonia compared to younger adults, but no differences in terms of reported sadness were found. Finally, older and younger adults differed in their descriptions of symptoms with older adults describing anxiety as feeling stressed and tense, while younger adults described anxiety as feeling anxious, worried or nervous. Clinicians need to assess symptoms broadly to avoid missing the presence of anxiety and mood disorders especially in older adults.

Adult age differences in unconscious transference: source confusion or identity blending?

PubMed

Perfect, Timothy J; Harris, Lucy J

2003-06-01

Eyewitnesses are known often to falsely identify a familiar but innocent bystander when asked to pick out a perpetrator from a lineup. Such unconscious transference errors have been attributed to either identity confusions at encoding or source retrieval errors. Three experiments contrasted younger and older adults in their susceptibility to such misidentifications. Participants saw photographs of perpetrators, then a series of mug shots of innocent bystanders. A week later, they saw lineups containing bystanders (and others containing perpetrators in Experiment 3) and were asked whether any of the perpetrators were present. When younger faces were used as stimuli (Experiments 1 and 3), older adults showed higher rates of transference errors. When older faces were used as stimuli (Experiments 2 and 3), no such age effects in rates of unconscious transference were apparent. In addition, older adults in Experiment 3 showed an own-age bias effect for correct identification of targets. Unconscious transference errors were found to be due to both source retrieval errors and identity confusions, but age-related increases were found only in the latter.

Ageing Is Associated with Decreases in Appetite and Energy Intake--A Meta-Analysis in Healthy Adults.

PubMed

Giezenaar, Caroline; Chapman, Ian; Luscombe-Marsh, Natalie; Feinle-Bisset, Christine; Horowitz, Michael; Soenen, Stijn

2016-01-07

It is not well recognized that in the elderly weight loss is more common than weight gain. The aim of this analysis was to determine the effect of ageing on appetite (hunger/fullness) and energy intake, after overnight fasting and in a postprandial state, by meta-analyses of trials that included at least two age groups (>18 years). We hypothesized that appetite and energy intake would be less in healthy older compared with younger adults. Following a PubMed-database systematic search up to 30 June 2015, 59 studies were included in the random-effects-model meta-analyses. Energy intake was 16%-20% lower in older (n = 3574/~70 years/~71 kg/~25 kg/m²) than younger (n = 4111/~26 years/~69 kg/~23 kg/m²) adults (standardized mean difference: -0.77 (95% confidence interval -0.90 to -0.64)). Hunger was 25% (after overnight fasting; weighted mean difference (WMD): -17 (-22 to -13) mm) to 39% (in a postprandial state; WMD: -14 (-19 to -9) mm) lower, and fullness 37% (after overnight fasting; WMD: 6 mm (95% CI: 1 to 11 mm)) greater in older than younger adults. In conclusion, appetite and energy intake are less in healthy older than younger adults, suggesting that ageing per se affects food intake.

Increasing Lateralized Motor Activity in Younger and Older Adults using Real-time fMRI during Executed Movements.

PubMed

Neyedli, Heather F; Sampaio-Baptista, Cassandra; Kirkman, Matthew A; Havard, David; Lührs, Michael; Ramsden, Katie; Flitney, David D; Clare, Stuart; Goebel, Rainer; Johansen-Berg, Heidi

2018-05-15

Neurofeedback training involves presenting an individual with a representation of their brain activity and instructing them to alter the activity using the feedback. One potential application of neurofeedback is for patients to alter neural activity to improve function. For example, there is evidence that greater laterality of movement-related activity is associated with better motor outcomes after stroke; so using neurofeedback to increase laterality may provide a novel route for improving outcomes. However, we must demonstrate that individuals can control relevant neurofeedback signals. Here, we performed two proof-of-concept studies, one in younger (median age: 26years) and one in older healthy volunteers (median age: 67.5years). The purpose was to determine if participants could manipulate laterality of activity between the motor cortices using real-time fMRI neurofeedback while performing simple hand movements. The younger cohort trained using their left and right hand, the older group trained using their left hand only. In both studies participants in a neurofeedback group were able to achieve more lateralized activity than those in a sham group (younger adults: F(1,23)=4.37, p<0.05; older adults: F(1,15)=9.08, p<0.01). Moreover, the younger cohort was able to maintain the lateralized activity for right hand movements once neurofeedback was removed. The older cohort did not maintain lateralized activity upon feedback removal, with the limitation being that they did not train with their right hand. The results provide evidence that neurofeedback can be used with executed movements to promote lateralized brain activity and thus is amenable for testing as a therapeutic intervention for patients following stroke. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

8-year trends in physical activity, nutrition, TV viewing time, smoking, alcohol and BMI: A comparison of younger and older Queensland adults.

PubMed

Alley, Stephanie J; Duncan, Mitch J; Schoeppe, Stephanie; Rebar, Amanda L; Vandelanotte, Corneel

2017-01-01

. Although older adults meet more health behaviours than younger adults, the decreasing prevalence of healthy nutrition behaviours in this age group needs to be addressed.

Thinking about a limited future enhances the positivity of younger and older adults' recall: Support for socioemotional selectivity theory.

PubMed

Barber, Sarah J; Opitz, Philipp C; Martins, Bruna; Sakaki, Michiko; Mather, Mara

2016-08-01

Compared with younger adults, older adults have a relative preference to attend to and remember positive over negative information. This is known as the "positivity effect," and researchers have typically evoked socioemotional selectivity theory to explain it. According to socioemotional selectivity theory, as people get older they begin to perceive their time left in life as more limited. These reduced time horizons prompt older adults to prioritize achieving emotional gratification and thus exhibit increased positivity in attention and recall. Although this is the most commonly cited explanation of the positivity effect, there is currently a lack of clear experimental evidence demonstrating a link between time horizons and positivity. The goal of the current research was to address this issue. In two separate experiments, we asked participants to complete a writing activity, which directed them to think of time as being either limited or expansive (Experiments 1 and 2) or did not orient them to think about time in a particular manner (Experiment 2). Participants were then shown a series of emotional pictures, which they subsequently tried to recall. Results from both studies showed that regardless of chronological age, thinking about a limited future enhanced the relative positivity of participants' recall. Furthermore, the results of Experiment 2 showed that this effect was not driven by changes in mood. Thus, the fact that older adults' recall is typically more positive than younger adults' recall may index naturally shifting time horizons and goals with age.

Gist-Based Memory for Prices and ‘Better Buys’ in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Flores, Cynthia C.; Hargis, Mary B.; McGillivray, Shannon; Friedman, Michael C.; Castel, Alan D.

2016-01-01

Aging typically leads to various memory deficits which results in older adults’ tendency to remember more general information and rely on gist memory. The current study examined if younger and older adults could remember which of two comparable grocery items (e.g., two similar but different jams) was paired with a lower price (the “better buy”). Participants studied lists of grocery items and their prices, in which the two items in each category were presented consecutively (Experiment 1), or separated by intervening items (Experiment 2). At test, participants were asked to identify the “better buy” and recall the price of both items. There were negligible age-related differences for the “better buy” in Experiment 1, but age-related differences were present in Experiment 2 when there were greater memory demands involved in comparing the two items. Together, these findings suggest that when price information of two items can be evaluated and compared within a short period of time, older adults can form stable gist-based memory for prices, but that this is impaired with longer delays. We relate the findings to age-related changes in the use of gist and verbatim memory when remembering prices, as well as the associative deficit account of cognitive aging. PMID:27310613

Older and younger adults' first impressions from faces: similar in agreement but different in positivity.

PubMed

Zebrowitz, Leslie A; Franklin, Robert G; Hillman, Suzanne; Boc, Henry

2013-03-01

People readily form first impressions from faces, with consensual judgments that have significant social consequences. Similar impressions are shown by children, young adults (YA), and people from diverse cultures. However, this is the first study to systematically investigate older adults' (OA) impressions. OA and YA showed similar levels of within-age agreement in their impressions of competence, health, hostility, and trustworthiness. Both groups also showed stronger within- than between-age agreement. Consistent with other evidence for age-related increases in positivity, OA showed more positive impressions of the health, hostility, and trustworthiness of faces. These effects tended to be strongest for the most negatively valenced faces, suggesting that they derive from OA lesser processing of negative cues rather than greater processing of positive cues. An own-age bias in impressions was limited to greater OA positivity in impressions of the hostility of older faces, but not younger ones. Although OA and YA differed in vision and executive function, only OA slower processing speed contributed to age differences in impression positivity. Positivity effects in OA have not been previously linked to processing speed, and research investigating possible explanations for this effect would be worthwhile.

Local Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services Spending and Nursing Home Admissions of Younger Adults

PubMed Central

Keohane, Laura; Mor, Vincent

2014-01-01

We used fixed-effect models to examine the relationship between local spending on home- and community-based services (HCBSs) for cash-assisted Medicaid-only disabled (CAMOD) adults and younger adult admissions to nursing homes in the United States during 2001 through 2008, with control for facility and market characteristics and secular trends. We found that increased CAMOD Medicaid HCBS spending at the local level is associated with decreased admissions of younger adults to nursing homes. Our findings suggest that states’ efforts to expand HCBS for this population should continue. PMID:25211711

Local Medicaid home- and community-based services spending and nursing home admissions of younger adults.

PubMed

Thomas, Kali S; Keohane, Laura; Mor, Vincent

2014-11-01

We used fixed-effect models to examine the relationship between local spending on home- and community-based services (HCBSs) for cash-assisted Medicaid-only disabled (CAMOD) adults and younger adult admissions to nursing homes in the United States during 2001 through 2008, with control for facility and market characteristics and secular trends. We found that increased CAMOD Medicaid HCBS spending at the local level is associated with decreased admissions of younger adults to nursing homes. Our findings suggest that states' efforts to expand HCBS for this population should continue.

Using warnings to reduce categorical false memories in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Carmichael, Anna M; Gutchess, Angela H

2016-07-01

Warnings about memory errors can reduce their incidence, although past work has largely focused on associative memory errors. The current study sought to explore whether warnings could be tailored to specifically reduce false recall of categorical information in both younger and older populations. Before encoding word pairs designed to induce categorical false memories, half of the younger and older participants were warned to avoid committing these types of memory errors. Older adults who received a warning committed fewer categorical memory errors, as well as other types of semantic memory errors, than those who did not receive a warning. In contrast, young adults' memory errors did not differ for the warning versus no-warning groups. Our findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of warnings at reducing categorical memory errors in older adults, perhaps by supporting source monitoring, reduction in reliance on gist traces, or through effective metacognitive strategies.

Age-Group and Gender Differences in Stroke Knowledge in an Israeli Jewish Adult Population.

PubMed

Melnikov, Semyon; Itzhaki, Michal; Koton, Silvia

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and the fifth leading cause of death in Israel. Knowledge of stroke warning signs has been linked to early seeking of medical help. Little is known about knowledge of stroke warning signs in Israeli Jewish adults. Stroke knowledge was examined among Jewish Israeli adults. Using a structured questionnaire, registered nurses interviewed a convenience sample of the respondents, 18 years or older, with no stroke history. Stroke knowledge and demographics were examined by 3 age groups (<45, 45-64, and >64 years) in men and women. In total, 1137 Jewish Israelis were interviewed, 457 (40.2%) men and 680 women (59.8%); 493 (43.4%) were younger than 45 years, 541 (47.6%) were aged 45 to 64 years, and 102 (9%) were older than 64 years; 1 (0.1%) did not report age. On average, each interview lasted for 25 to 30 minutes. Participants younger than 45 years showed the lowest knowledge of stroke cause. Women younger than 45 years were less likely to identify at least 2 stroke warning signs. Participants younger than 45 years were less likely to identify at least 2 risk factors, compared with participants aged 45 to 64 years and older than 64 years. Women younger than 45 years were less likely to identify at least 2 stroke prevention strategies. Participants younger than 45 years showed the lowest levels of stroke knowledge. The highest stroke knowledge was found in the 45 to 64 years age group. Stroke knowledge among different age groups was similar in both genders. Educational campaigns aimed at increasing knowledge of stroke among the general population and targeting the younger population are recommended.

Greater Emotional Gain from Giving in Older Adults: Age-Related Positivity Bias in Charitable Giving

PubMed Central

Bjälkebring, Pär; Västfjäll, Daniel; Dickert, Stephan; Slovic, Paul

2016-01-01

Older adults have been shown to avoid negative and prefer positive information to a higher extent than younger adults. This positivity bias influences their information processing as well as decision-making. We investigate age-related positivity bias in charitable giving in two studies. In Study 1 we examine motivational factors in monetary donations, while Study 2 focuses on the emotional effect of actual monetary donations. In Study 1, participants (n = 353, age range 20–74 years) were asked to rate their affect toward a person in need and then state how much money they would be willing to donate to help this person. In Study 2, participants (n = 108, age range 19–89) were asked to rate their affect toward a donation made a few days prior. Regression analysis was used to investigate whether or not the positivity bias influences the relationship between affect and donations. In Study 1, we found that older adults felt more sympathy and compassion and were less motivated by negative affect when compared to younger adults, who were motivated by both negative and positive affect. In Study 2, we found that the level of positive emotional reactions from monetary donations was higher in older participants compared to younger participants. We find support for an age-related positivity bias in charitable giving. This is true for motivation to make a future donation, as well as affective thinking about a previous donation. We conclude that older adults draw more positive affect from both the planning and outcome of monetary donations and hence benefit more from engaging in monetary charity than their younger counterparts. PMID:27378966

Cancer treatment decision-making among young adults with lung and colorectal cancer: a comparison with adults in middle age.

PubMed

Mack, Jennifer W; Cronin, Angel; Fasciano, Karen; Block, Susan D; Keating, Nancy L

2016-09-01

Our aim is to understand experiences with treatment decision-making among young adults with cancer. We studied patients with lung cancer or colorectal cancer in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium, a prospective cohort study. We identified 148 young adult patients aged 21-40 years who completed baseline interview questions about cancer treatment decision-making; each was propensity score matched to three middle adult patients aged 41-60 years, for a cohort of 592 patients. Patients were asked about decision-making preferences, family involvement in decision-making, and worries about treatment. An ordinal logistic regression model evaluated factors associated with more treatment worries. Young and middle-aged adults reported similar decision-making preferences (p = 0.80) and roles relative to physicians (p = 0.36). Although family involvement was similar in the age groups (p = 0.21), young adults were more likely to have dependent children in the home (60% younger versus 28% middle-aged adults, p < 0.001). Young adults reported more worries about time away from family (p = 0.002), and, in unadjusted analyses, more cancer treatment-related worries (mean number of responses of 'somewhat' or 'very' worried 2.5 for younger versus 2.2 for middle-aged adults, p = 0.02.) However, in adjusted analyses, worries were associated with the presence of dependent children in the home (odds ratio [OR] 1.55, 95% CI = 1.07-2.24, p = 0.02), rather than age. Young adults involve doctors and family members in decisions at rates similar to middle-aged adults but experience more worries about time away from family. Patients with dependent children are especially likely to experience worries. Treatment decision-making strategies should be based on individual preferences and needs rather than age alone. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Age-related perspectives and emotion processing.

PubMed

Lynchard, Nicholas A; Radvansky, Gabriel A

2012-12-01

Emotion is processed differently in younger and older adults. Older adults show a positivity effect, whereas younger adults show a negativity effect. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests that these effects can be elicited in any age group when age-related perspectives are manipulated. To examine this, younger and older adults were oriented to actual and age-contrasting possible selves. Emotion activations were assessed using lexical decision. In line with socioemotional selectivity theory, shifts in emotion orientation varied according to perspective, with both younger and older adults showing a negativity effect when a younger adult perspective was taken and a positivity effect when an older adult perspective was taken. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

HIV transmission and high rates of late diagnoses among adults aged 50 years and over.

PubMed

Smith, Ruth D; Delpech, Valerie C; Brown, Alison E; Rice, Brian D

2010-08-24

Describe the epidemiology and impact of late diagnosis among older adults living with HIV and estimate age at infection. Comparative national analyses between individuals diagnosed when aged 50 years and over with individuals diagnosed prior to 50 years. Age at infection was estimated using CD4 cell count at diagnosis. A total of 8255 older adults accessed HIV care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2007, a 3.5-fold increase compared to 2000; with one in 10 individuals newly diagnosed in 2007. When compared with younger adults at diagnosis, older adults were significantly more likely to be men (74 vs. 58%; P < 0.001), infected through sex between men (40 vs. 34%; P < 0.001) and of white ethnicity (60 vs. 38%; P < 0.001). Older heterosexual adults were more likely to be infected within the UK (16 vs. 12%; P < 0.001), with evidence of travel abroad among white heterosexual men. Almost half (48%) of older adults were late presenters vs. a third (33%) of younger adults. Older late presenters were 14 times more likely to die within a year of diagnosis compared with older adults who were not diagnosed late (14 vs. 1%; P < 0.001) and had 2.4 times the risk of dying than younger late presenters. We estimate that nearly half (48%) of older adults diagnosed between 2000 and 2007 acquired their infection at age 50 and over. Our study provides evidence of HIV transmission, high rates of late presentation and an increased risk of short-term mortality among older adults. These findings highlight the need for increased targeted prevention efforts and strategies to increase HIV testing among older adults at risk of HIV.

Pioglitazone is equally effective for diabetes prevention in older versus younger adults with impaired glucose tolerance.

PubMed

Espinoza, Sara E; Wang, Chen-Pin; Tripathy, Devjit; Clement, Stephen C; Schwenke, Dawn C; Banerji, Mary Ann; Bray, George A; Buchanan, Thomas A; Henry, Robert R; Kitabchi, Abbas E; Mudaliar, Sunder; Stentz, Frankie B; Reaven, Peter D; DeFronzo, Ralph A; Musi, Nicolas

2016-12-01

To determine the efficacy of pioglitazone to prevent type 2 diabetes in older compared to younger adults with pre-diabetes. Six hundred two participants with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were randomized in double blind fashion to placebo or pioglitazone for diabetes prevention in the ACT NOW study (NEJM 364:1104-1115, 2011). Cox proportional hazard regression was used to compare time to development of diabetes over a mean of 2 years between older (≥61 years) and younger participants. We compared effects of pioglitazone versus placebo on metabolic profiles, inflammatory markers, adipokines, β cell function (disposition index), insulin sensitivity (Matsuda index), and body composition by ANOVA. Diabetes incidence was reduced by 85 % in older and 69 % in younger subjects (p = 0.41). β cell function (disposition index) increased by 35.0 % in the older and 26.7 % in younger subjects (p = 0.83). Insulin sensitivity (Matsuda index) increased by 3.07 (5.2-fold) in older and by 2.54 (3.8-fold) in younger participants (p = 0.58). Pioglitazone more effectively increased adiponectin in older versus younger subjects (22.9 ± 3.2 μg/mL [2.7-fold] vs. 12.7 ± 1.4 μg/mL [2.2-fold], respectively; p = 0.04). Younger subjects tended to have a greater increase in whole body fat mass compared to older subjects (3.6 vs. 3.1 kg; p = 0.061). Younger and older subjects had similar decreases in bone mineral density (0.018 ± 0.0071 vs. 0.0138 ± 0.021 g/cm 2 ). Younger and older pre-diabetic adults taking pioglitazone had similar reductions in conversion to diabetes and older adults had similar or greater improvements in metabolic risk factors, demonstrating that pioglitazone is useful in preventing diabetes in older adults.

Perceptions of competence: age moderates views of healthy aging and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Berry, Jane M; Williams, Helen L; Thomas, Kevin D; Blair, Jamie

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Older adults have more complex and differentiated views of aging than do younger adults, but less is known about age-related perceptions of Alzheimer's disease. This study investigated age-related perceptions of competence of an older adult labeled as "in good health" (healthy) or "has Alzheimer's disease" (AD), using a person-perception paradigm. It was predicted that older adults would provide more differentiated assessments of the two targets than would younger adults. Younger (n=86; 18-36 years) and older (n=66; 61-95 years) adults rated activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and memory abilities of a female target aged 75 years, described as healthy or with AD. Data on anxiety about aging, knowledge of and experience with aging and AD, knowledge of memory aging, and positive and negative biases toward aging and AD were also collected. Older adults perceived the healthy target as more capable of cognitively effortful activities (e.g., managing finances) and as possessing better memory abilities than the AD target. As predicted, these differences were greater than differences between targets perceived by younger adults. The interaction effect remained significant after statistically controlling for relevant variables, including education and gender. Additionally, exploratory analyses revealed that older adults held less positively biased views of AD than younger adults, but negatively biased views were equivalent between age groups. The results demonstrate that mere labels of "healthy" and "Alzheimer's disease" produce significant and subtle age differences in perceived competencies of older adults, and that biases towards AD vary by age group and valence. Our findings extend the person-perception paradigm to an integrative analysis of aging and AD, are consistent with models of adult development, and complement current research and theory on stereotypes of aging. Future directions for research

Cognitive Control and Lexical Access in Younger and Older Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bialystok, Ellen; Craik, Fergus; Luk, Gigi

2008-01-01

Ninety-six participants, who were younger (20 years) or older (68 years) adults and either monolingual or bilingual, completed tasks assessing working memory, lexical retrieval, and executive control. Younger participants performed most of the tasks better than older participants, confirming the effect of aging on these processes. The effect of…

Neighborhood walking among overweight and obese adults: age variations in barriers and motivators.

PubMed

Lee, Chanam; Ory, Marcia G; Yoon, Jeongjae; Forjuoh, Samuel N

2013-02-01

Walking is a popular form of physical activity that can bring many public health benefits. It can be even more beneficial to those who are currently obese or overweight. However, many barriers discourage people from walking, ranging from lack of motivation to unsafe neighborhood environments, and such barriers vary with age. This study addresses barriers and motivators to walking among overweight and obese adults, and examines their age variations. Particular emphasis was given to modifiable environmental factors as the priority intervention targets. A survey of 161 overweight and obese adults recruited from a large integrated healthcare system in central Texas provided data on walking, demographics, motivators and barriers. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted. The respondents had a mean age of 48.4 (20-86), and were predominantly female (80.8%), non-Hispanic White (86.0%), and obese (mean BMI = 32.5). Popular environmental barriers to walking were: bad weather, inadequate lighting, no shade, unattended dogs, disconnected sidewalks, poor walking surfaces, no interesting places to walk nearby, and no benches (74.5-38.5%). Even and smooth walking surfaces and benches were more frequently reported by older adults as motivators. Proximity to recreational facilities was a stronger motivator for younger adults. Two safety related barriers, fear of injury (older adults) and traffic safety concerns (younger adults), also showed significant age differences. Overweight and obese adults experience substantial environmental barriers to walking, but many of them are modifiable. Observed age variations suggest that future interventions may be more effective if tailored to address age-specific barriers.

Ageing Is Associated with Decreases in Appetite and Energy Intake—A Meta-Analysis in Healthy Adults

PubMed Central

Giezenaar, Caroline; Chapman, Ian; Luscombe-Marsh, Natalie; Feinle-Bisset, Christine; Horowitz, Michael; Soenen, Stijn

2016-01-01

It is not well recognized that in the elderly weight loss is more common than weight gain. The aim of this analysis was to determine the effect of ageing on appetite (hunger/fullness) and energy intake, after overnight fasting and in a postprandial state, by meta-analyses of trials that included at least two age groups (>18 years). We hypothesized that appetite and energy intake would be less in healthy older compared with younger adults. Following a PubMed-database systematic search up to 30 June 2015, 59 studies were included in the random-effects-model meta-analyses. Energy intake was 16%–20% lower in older (n = 3574/~70 years/~71 kg/~25 kg/m2) than younger (n = 4111/~26 years/~69 kg/~23 kg/m2) adults (standardized mean difference: −0.77 (95% confidence interval −0.90 to −0.64)). Hunger was 25% (after overnight fasting; weighted mean difference (WMD): −17 (−22 to −13) mm) to 39% (in a postprandial state; WMD: −14 (−19 to −9) mm) lower, and fullness 37% (after overnight fasting; WMD: 6 mm (95% CI: 1 to 11 mm)) greater in older than younger adults. In conclusion, appetite and energy intake are less in healthy older than younger adults, suggesting that ageing per se affects food intake. PMID:26751475

Simple and complex mental subtraction: strategy choice and speed-of-processing differences in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Geary, D C; Frensch, P A; Wiley, J G

1993-06-01

Thirty-six younger adults (10 male, 26 female; ages 18 to 38 years) and 36 older adults (14 male, 22 female; ages 61 to 80 years) completed simple and complex paper-and-pencil subtraction tests and solved a series of simple and complex computer-presented subtraction problems. For the computer task, strategies and solution times were recorded on a trial-by-trial basis. Older Ss used a developmentally more mature mix of problem-solving strategies to solve both simple and complex subtraction problems. Analyses of component scores derived from the solution times suggest that the older Ss are slower at number encoding and number production but faster at executing the borrow procedure. In contrast, groups did not appear to differ in the speed of subtraction fact retrieval. Results from a computational simulation are consistent with the interpretation that older adults' advantage for strategy choices and for the speed of executing the borrow procedure might result from more practice solving subtraction problems.

Combined influence of serious mental illness and criminal offending on suicide risk in younger adults.

PubMed

Webb, Roger T; Qin, Ping; Stevens, Hanne; Appleby, Louis; Shaw, Jenny; Mortensen, Preben Bo

2013-01-01

We conducted a national epidemiological study to determine how mental illness and criminal offending combine to influence suicide risk in younger adults. Using completely interlinked registers, we generated a nested case-control study from the cohort of all Danish people born 1965 and onwards. We identified 2,384 suicides aged 15-41 years during 1981-2006, and 56,016 age and sex-matched living controls. We examined all criminal charges from 1980, and all psychiatric admissions from 1969 and outpatient episodes from 1995. Exposure odds ratios were estimated using conditional logistic regression models. A quarter of male and 17 % of female suicides had histories of both criminal justice system contact and secondary care psychiatric treatment, with a marked elevation in risk seen compared with having neither risk factor: male odds ratio (OR) 34.0, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 29.1-39.6; female OR 72.7, CI 49.4-107.1. Among those treated for psychiatric illness, contact with the criminal justice system predicted higher risk: male OR 1.4, CI 1.1-1.7; female OR 1.7, CI 1.1-2.4, although these effects were attenuated and became non-significant with adjustment for socio-demographic risk factors. In men, risk was especially high if first criminal justice system contact occurred before first psychiatric treatment episode, and if these two challenging life events coalesced within a year of each other. These younger age adults should be monitored carefully for signs of suicidal behaviour. The need for well coordinated multiagency care is indicated, and a broad range of psychiatric illnesses should be considered carefully when assessing their suicide risk.

Price effects on the smoking behaviour of adult age groups.

PubMed

Franz, G A

2008-12-01

To provide a cigarette price elasticity reference for adult age groups, and to estimate the smoking behaviour changes in US adults in light of unprecedented state excise tax increases on cigarettes during the 1990s. Individual-level data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 1993-2000 were merged with state-level cigarette price and tax data. Data were analysed for different age groups using a weighted least squares regression framework. The outcome variables measured were whether an individual was a smoker, whether he/she had tried to quit smoking during the previous year, and how many cigarettes were smoked per day among the total population and among active smokers. This study confirmed previous results that younger individuals are more responsive to price changes than older individuals. Although older age groups are less sensitive to price changes, their smoking behaviour changes are still statistically significant. This study found that while older individuals are less responsive to price changes than younger individuals, their behavioural changes due to cigarette price increases should not be ignored.

Adult Age Differences in Frequency Estimations of Happy and Angry Faces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nikitin, Jana; Freund, Alexandra M.

2015-01-01

With increasing age, the ratio of gains to losses becomes more negative, which is reflected in expectations that positive events occur with a high likelihood in young adulthood, whereas negative events occur with a high likelihood in old age. Little is known about expectations of social events. Given that younger adults are motivated to establish…

Current versus lifetime depression, APOE variation, and their interaction on cognitive performance in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Luciano, Michelle; Pujals, Ana Maria Fernández; Marioni, Riccardo E; Campbell, Archie; Hayward, Caroline; MacIntyre, Donald J; Porteous, David J; McIntosh, Andrew M; Deary, Ian J

2015-06-01

An interaction effect of depressive symptoms and APOE e4 allele status on cognitive decline has been shown in old age: e4 allele carriers with more depressive symptoms have faster cognitive decline than those with either depression or the e4 allele. We test this interaction effect on four cognitive domains, using a clinical depression measure comparing current versus lifetime depression. 14,379 individuals aged 18 to 59 years, and 3944 individuals aged 60 to 94 years from the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study participated. Linear-mixed models-accounting for participant relatedness and demographic and health indices-tested for effects of depression and APOE on cognitive abilities. There was no interaction between depression and APOE on cognition (p > .05). Current depression was associated with poorer speed (in both groups) and memory (18- to 59-year-olds); differences ranged from 0.01 to 0.03 standard deviation [SD]. For lifetime depression, cognitive performance was lower for digit symbol in younger adults, but higher for vocabulary in both younger (0.03 SD) and older (0.05 SD) adults. A negative effect of the APOE e4 allele on speed and memory was found in the group 60 years and older (effect sizes of 0.04 SD). The absence of a depression by APOE interaction on cognitive abilities suggests that these synergistic effects only operate at the level of cognitive decline. This implies that it is those biological pathways especially affected by aging that become compromised further by the combined presence of depression and APOE e4 in an individual.

8-year trends in physical activity, nutrition, TV viewing time, smoking, alcohol and BMI: A comparison of younger and older Queensland adults

PubMed Central

Duncan, Mitch J.; Schoeppe, Stephanie; Rebar, Amanda L.; Vandelanotte, Corneel

2017-01-01

.88–0.99) decreased over time. Although older adults meet more health behaviours than younger adults, the decreasing prevalence of healthy nutrition behaviours in this age group needs to be addressed. PMID:28248975

The prone bridge test: Performance, validity, and reliability among older and younger adults.

PubMed

Bohannon, Richard W; Steffl, Michal; Glenney, Susan S; Green, Michelle; Cashwell, Leah; Prajerova, Kveta; Bunn, Jennifer

2018-04-01

The prone bridge maneuver, or plank, has been viewed as a potential alternative to curl-ups for assessing trunk muscle performance. The purpose of this study was to assess prone bridge test performance, validity, and reliability among younger and older adults. Sixty younger (20-35 years old) and 60 older (60-79 years old) participants completed this study. Groups were evenly divided by sex. Participants completed surveys regarding physical activity and abdominal exercise participation. Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference were measured. On two occasions, 5-9 days apart, participants held a prone bridge until volitional exhaustion or until repeated technique failure. Validity was examined using data from the first session: convergent validity by calculating correlations between survey responses, anthropometrics, and prone bridge time, known groups validity by using an ANOVA comparing bridge times of younger and older adults and of men and women. Test-retest reliability was examined by using a paired t-test to compare prone bridge times for Session1 and Session 2. Furthermore, an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to characterize relative reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC 95% ) was used to describe absolute reliability. The mean prone bridge time was 145.3 ± 71.5 s, and was positively correlated with physical activity participation (p ≤ 0.001) and negatively correlated with BMI and waist circumference (p ≤ 0.003). Younger participants had significantly longer plank times than older participants (p = 0.003). The ICC between testing sessions was 0.915. The prone bridge test is a valid and reliable measure for evaluating abdominal performance in both younger and older adults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Focused and divided attention in a simulated cocktail-party situation: ERP evidence from younger and older adults.

PubMed

Getzmann, Stephan; Golob, Edward J; Wascher, Edmund

2016-05-01

Speech perception under complex listening conditions usually decreases in aging. This is especially true for listening conditions requiring divided attention among 2 and more relevant speakers. Using a speech perception task and event-related potential measures, we studied the ability of younger and older adults to attend to speech information from a single-target speaker (focused attention) or from 2 different (alternative) target speakers (divided attention). The focused and divided attention conditions were presented either in silence or in the presence of 3 concurrent speakers. In the presence of concurrent speakers, older participants showed worse performance with divided versus focused attention. In contrast, there was no effect of attention condition for the younger adults. Relative to the young, event-related potential analysis in older subjects indicated a decline in preparatory activity for the critical speech information (a delayed and smaller contingent negative variation), and delayed attentional control (indicated by a longer P2 latency). Standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography revealed that the age-related decline in preparatory activity was associated with reduced activation of medial and superior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate gyrus. The results suggest that age-related differences in these prefrontal brain areas reflect declines in preparatory attention and gating of subsequent task-related speech information, especially under conditions of divided attention. These findings may reflect mechanisms relating to impaired speech perception by older people in "cocktail-party" listening situations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Comparison of the Personality Characteristics of Adult Learners and Traditional Age Freshmen.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuh, George D.; Ardaiolo, Frank P.

1979-01-01

The Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI) was administered to first year adult learners and to traditional age freshmen from the same multicampus university. Older students exhibited more intellectual and social-emotional maturity. Personality functioning of adult learners at the commuter campus was more like that of younger students. (Author)

Age Friendly Universities and Engagement with Older Adults: Moving from Principles to Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talmage, Craig A.; Mark, Rob; Slowey, Maria; Knopf, Richard C.

2016-01-01

The global society is facing a new burgeoning element: an ageing population. Response to the educational needs and interests of older adults requires innovative pedagogies and practices of teaching, research, and community engagement. While traditionally geared towards provision for younger adults, the case is presented that universities have the…

Possible predictors of age at illness onset and illness duration in a cohort study comparing younger adults and older major affective patients.

PubMed

Serafini, Gianluca; Gonda, Xenia; Monacelli, Fiammetta; Pardini, Matteo; Pompili, Maurizio; Rihmer, Zoltan; Amore, Mario

2018-01-01

Major affective conditions are associated with significant disability and psychosocial impairment. Whether specific socio-demographic and clinical characteristics may distinguish subgroups of patients in terms of prognosis and illness trajectories is a matter of debate. The sample of this naturalistic cohort study included 675 currently euthymic patients with major affective disorders of which 428 (63.4%) were diagnosed with unipolar and 247 (36.6%) with bipolar disorders. Younger adults with a longer duration of untreated illness and residual inter-episodic symptoms were more likely to be single or divorced, students, with an earlier age of first treatment/hospitalization, longer duration of substance abuse and duration of illness than older patients who were, conversely, more likely to be widowed and retired. Multivariate analyses showed a significant positive contribution to age at illness onset by marital status, nonpsychiatric medications, substance abuse, psychiatric diagnosis (bipolar vs. unipolar), age at first treatment/hospitalization, duration of illness, and current age. According to a further analysis, we also found a significant positive contribution to duration of illness by marital status, educational level, positive history of psychiatric conditions in family, substance abuse, psychiatric diagnosis (bipolar vs. unipolar), age at illness onset, age at first treatment, and certain cardiovascular disorders. There are substantial socio-demographic and clinical differences that may help to distinguish specific subgroups of patients; however, additional studies are requested to replicate these results and further investigate the main factors underlying our findings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluating authentication options for mobile health applications in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Khan, Hassan; Hengartner, Urs; Ong, Stephanie; Logan, Alexander G.; Vogel, Daniel; Gebotys, Robert; Yang, Jilan

2018-01-01

Objective Apps promoting patient self-management may improve health outcomes. However, methods to secure stored information on mobile devices may adversely affect usability. We tested the reliability and usability of common user authentication techniques in younger and older adults. Methodology Usability testing was conducted in two age groups, 18 to 30 years and 50 years and older. After completing a demographic questionnaire, each participant tested four authentication options in random order: four-digit personal identification number (PIN), graphical password (GRAPHICAL), Android pattern-lock (PATTERN), and a swipe-style Android fingerprint scanner (FINGERPRINT). Participants rated each option using the Systems Usability Scale (SUS). Results A total of 59 older and 43 younger participants completed the study. Overall, PATTERN was the fastest option (3.44s), and PIN had the fewest errors per attempt (0.02). Participants were able to login using PIN, PATTERN, and GRAPHICAL at least 98% of the time. FINGERPRINT was the slowest (26.97s), had an average of 1.46 errors per attempt, and had a successful login rate of 85%. Overall, PIN and PATTERN had higher SUS scores than FINGERPRINT and GRAPHICAL. Compared to younger participants, older participants were also less likely to find PATTERN to be tiring, annoying or time consuming and less likely to consider PIN to be time consuming. Younger participants were more likely to rate GRAPHICAL as annoying, time consuming and tiring than older participants. Conclusions On mobile devices, PIN and pattern-lock outperformed graphical passwords and swipe-style fingerprints. All participants took longer to authenticate using the swipe-style fingerprint compared to other options. Older participants also took two to three seconds longer to authenticate using the PIN, pattern and graphical passwords though this did not appear to affect perceived usability. PMID:29300736

Evaluating authentication options for mobile health applications in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Grindrod, Kelly; Khan, Hassan; Hengartner, Urs; Ong, Stephanie; Logan, Alexander G; Vogel, Daniel; Gebotys, Robert; Yang, Jilan

2018-01-01

Apps promoting patient self-management may improve health outcomes. However, methods to secure stored information on mobile devices may adversely affect usability. We tested the reliability and usability of common user authentication techniques in younger and older adults. Usability testing was conducted in two age groups, 18 to 30 years and 50 years and older. After completing a demographic questionnaire, each participant tested four authentication options in random order: four-digit personal identification number (PIN), graphical password (GRAPHICAL), Android pattern-lock (PATTERN), and a swipe-style Android fingerprint scanner (FINGERPRINT). Participants rated each option using the Systems Usability Scale (SUS). A total of 59 older and 43 younger participants completed the study. Overall, PATTERN was the fastest option (3.44s), and PIN had the fewest errors per attempt (0.02). Participants were able to login using PIN, PATTERN, and GRAPHICAL at least 98% of the time. FINGERPRINT was the slowest (26.97s), had an average of 1.46 errors per attempt, and had a successful login rate of 85%. Overall, PIN and PATTERN had higher SUS scores than FINGERPRINT and GRAPHICAL. Compared to younger participants, older participants were also less likely to find PATTERN to be tiring, annoying or time consuming and less likely to consider PIN to be time consuming. Younger participants were more likely to rate GRAPHICAL as annoying, time consuming and tiring than older participants. On mobile devices, PIN and pattern-lock outperformed graphical passwords and swipe-style fingerprints. All participants took longer to authenticate using the swipe-style fingerprint compared to other options. Older participants also took two to three seconds longer to authenticate using the PIN, pattern and graphical passwords though this did not appear to affect perceived usability.

Forever young: Visual representations of gender and age in online dating sites for older adults.

PubMed

Gewirtz-Meydan, Ateret; Ayalon, Liat

2017-06-13

Online dating has become increasingly popular among older adults following broader social media adoption patterns. The current study examined the visual representations of people on 39 dating sites intended for the older population, with a particular focus on the visualization of the intersection between age and gender. All 39 dating sites for older adults were located through the Google search engine. Visual thematic analysis was performed with reference to general, non-age-related signs (e.g., facial expression, skin color), signs of aging (e.g., perceived age, wrinkles), relational features (e.g., proximity between individuals), and additional features such as number of people presented. The visual analysis in the present study revealed a clear intersection between ageism and sexism in the presentation of older adults. The majority of men and women were smiling and had a fair complexion, with light eye color and perceived age of younger than 60. Older women were presented as younger and wore more cosmetics as compared with older men. The present study stresses the social regulation of sexuality, as only heterosexual couples were presented. The narrow representation of older adults and the anti-aging messages portrayed in the pictures convey that love, intimacy, and sexual activity are for older adults who are "forever young."

Reported Exposure and Emotional Reactivity to Daily Stressors: The Roles of Adult-Age and Global Perceived Stress

PubMed Central

Stawski, Robert S.; Sliwinski, Martin J.; Almeida, David M.; Smyth, Joshua M.

2012-01-01

A central goal of daily stress research is to identify resilience and vulnerability factors associated with exposure and reactivity to daily stressors. The current study examined how age differences and global perceptions of stress relate to exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors. Sixty-seven younger (Mage = 20) and 116 older (Mage = 80) adults completed a daily stress diary and measures of positive and negative affect on 6 days over a 14 day period. Participants also completed a measure of global perceived stress. Results revealed that reported exposure to daily stressors is reduced in old age, but that emotional reactivity to daily stressors did not differ between young and older adults. Global perceived stress was associated with greater reported exposure to daily stressors in old adults, and greater stress-related increases in negative affect in younger adults. Furthermore, across days on which daily stressors were reported, intraindividual variability in the number and severity of stressors reported was associated with increased negative affect, but only among younger adults. PMID:18361654

The Functional Integration in the Sensory-Motor System Predicts Aging in Healthy Older Adults.

PubMed

He, Hui; Luo, Cheng; Chang, Xin; Shan, Yan; Cao, Weifang; Gong, Jinnan; Klugah-Brown, Benjamin; Bobes, Maria A; Biswal, Bharat; Yao, Dezhong

2016-01-01

Healthy aging is typically accompanied by a decrease in the motor capacity. Although the disrupted neural representations and performance of movement have been observed in older age in previous studies, the relationship between the functional integration of sensory-motor (SM) system and aging could be further investigated. In this study, we examine the impact of healthy aging on the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the SM system, and investigate as to how aging is affecting the rsFC in SM network. The SM network was identified and evaluated in 52 healthy older adults and 51 younger adults using two common data analytic approaches: independent component analysis and seed-based functional connectivity (seed at bilateral M1 and S1). We then evaluated whether the altered rsFC of the SM network could delineate trajectories of the age of older adults using a machine learning methodology. Compared with the younger adults, the older demonstrated reduced functional integration with increasing age in the mid-posterior insula of SM network and increased rsFC among the sensorimotor cortex. Moreover, the reduction in the rsFC of mid-posterior insula is associated with the age of older adults. Critically, the analysis based on two-aspect connectivity-based prediction frameworks revealed that the age of older adults could be reliably predicted by this reduced rsFC. These findings further indicated that healthy aging has a marked influence on the SM system that would be associated with a reorganization of SM system with aging. Our findings provide further insight into changes in sensorimotor function in the aging brain.

Temporo-spatial gait parameters during street crossing conditions: a comparison between younger and older adults.

PubMed

Vieira, Edgar R; Lim, Hyun-Hwa; Brunt, Denis; Hallal, Camilla Z; Kinsey, Laura; Errington, Lisa; Gonçalves, Mauro

2015-02-01

Most traffic accidents involving pedestrians happen during street crossing. Safe street crossing by older adults requires complex planning and imposes high cognitive demands. Understanding how street crossing situations affect younger and older adults' gait is important to create evidence-based policies, education and training. The objective of this study was to develop and test a method to evaluate temporo-spatial gait parameters of younger and older adults during simulated street crossing situations. Twenty-two younger (25±2 years old) and 22 older adults (73±6 years old) who lived independently in the community completed 3 walking trials at preferred gait speed and during simulated street crossing with regular and with reduced time. There were significant differences between groups (p<0.001) and conditions (p<0.001). Older adults' street crossing walking speed was higher than their preferred speed (p<0.001). Gait during simulated street crossing resulted in significant and progressive gait changes. The methods developed and tested can be used to (1) evaluate if people are at risk of falls and accidents during street crossing situations, (2) to compare among different groups, and (3) to help establish appropriate times for older pedestrians to cross streets safely. The current time to cross streets is too short even for healthy older adults. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of age and sex on lacosamide pharmacokinetics in healthy adult subjects and adults with focal epilepsy.

PubMed

Schaefer, Carina; Cawello, Willi; Waitzinger, Josef; Elshoff, Jan-Peer

2015-04-01

Age- and sex-related differences in body composition could affect the pharmacokinetic parameters of administered drugs. The purpose of this post hoc analysis was to investigate the influences of age and sex on the pharmacokinetics of lacosamide. This post hoc analysis used pharmacokinetic data taken at steady state from (i) two phase I studies of oral lacosamide in healthy adult subjects (n = 66), and (ii) a population pharmacokinetic analysis carried out using data from two phase III studies of adjunctive oral lacosamide in adults (n = 565) with focal epilepsy taking 1-3 concomitant anti-epileptic drugs. Phase I data were stratified by age and sex as 'younger female' (aged 18-40 years), 'younger male' (aged 18-45 years) or 'elderly male/female' (aged ≥65 years), then normalized by body weight (lean body weight or fat-free mass), height or volume of distribution, and analysed using non-compartmental analysis. Population pharmacokinetic data were stratified by sex and analysed using a one-compartment model. Minor numerical differences between lacosamide exposure [the area under the concentration-time curve at steady state over the dosage interval (AUCτ,ss)] and the maximum plasma concentration at steady state (C max,ss) in subjects of different ages or sexes were noted. The differences could be explained by a scaling factor between the drug applied and the plasma concentration. Following normalization by lean body weight or volume of distribution, an analysis of relative bioavailability resulted in 90 % confidence intervals of the ratios for AUCτ,ss and C max,ss for age (elderly to younger) or sex (male to female) falling within the range accepted for equivalence (80-125 %); without normalization, the 90 % confidence intervals were outside this range. Minor numerical differences in lacosamide plasma concentrations were noted in the comparison between male and female patients (aged 16-71 years) with focal epilepsy. Simulations using different body weights

Distinctive Risk Factors and Phenotype of Younger Patients With Resistant Hypertension: Age Is Relevant.

PubMed

Ghazi, Lama; Oparil, Suzanne; Calhoun, David A; Lin, Chee Paul; Dudenbostel, Tanja

2017-05-01

Resistant hypertension, defined as blood pressure >140/90 mm Hg despite using ≥3 antihypertensive medications, is a well-recognized clinical entity. Patients with resistant hypertension are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease compared with those with more easily controlled hypertension. Coronary heart disease mortality rates of younger adults are stagnating or on the rise. The purpose of our study was to characterize the phenotype and risk factors of younger patients with resistant hypertension, given the dearth of data on cardiovascular risk profile in this cohort. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis with predefined age groups of a large, ethnically diverse cohort of 2170 patients referred to the Hypertension Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Patients (n=2068) met the inclusion criteria and were classified by age groups, that is, ≤40 years (12.7% of total cohort), 41 to 55 years (32.1%), 56 to 70 years (36.1%), and ≥71 years (19.1%). Patients aged ≤40 years compared with those aged ≥71 years had significantly earlier onset of hypertension (24.7±7.4 versus 55.0±14.1 years; P <0.0001), higher rates of obesity (53.4% versus 26.9%; P <0.0001), and significantly higher levels of plasma aldosterone (11.3±9.8 versus 8.9±7.4 ng/dL; P =0.005), plasma renin activity (4.9±10.2 versus 2.5±5.0 ng/mL per hour; P =0.001), 24-hour urinary aldosterone (13.4±10.0 versus 8.2±6.2 µg/24 h; P <0.0001), and sodium excretion (195.9±92.0 versus 146.8±67.1 mEq/24 h; P <0.0001). Among patients with resistant hypertension, younger individuals have a distinct phenotype characterized by overlapping risk factors and comorbidities, including obesity, high aldosterone, and high dietary sodium intake compared with elderly. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Kinematic analysis of postural reactions to a posterior translation in rocker bottom shoes in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Kimel-Scott, Dorothy R; Gulledge, Elisha N; Bolena, Ryan E; Albright, Bruce C

2014-01-01

Shoes with rocker bottom soles are utilized by persons with diabetic peripheral neuropathy to reduce plantar pressures during gait. The risk of falls increases with age and is compounded by diabetic neuropathy. The purpose of this study was to analyze how rocker bottom shoes affect posture control of older adults (50-75 years old) and younger adults (20-35 years old) in response to posterior slide perturbations. The postural response to a posterior platform translation was normalized among subjects by applying the below threshold stepping velocity (BTSV) for each subject. The BTSV was the fastest velocity of platform translation that did not cause a stepping response while wearing the rocker bottom shoes. Joint excursion, time to first response, response time, and variability of mean peak joint angles were analyzed at the ankle, knee, hip, trunk, and head in the sagittal plane. The statistical analysis was a 2-factor mixed repeated measures design to determine interactions between and within shoe types and age groups. While wearing rocker bottom shoes, both age groups exhibited increased joint excursion, differences in time to initial response, and longer response time. The older group demonstrated decreased joint excursion and increased time to initial response compared to the younger group, as well as a significantly slower mean BTSV. These findings support the conclusion that in healthy older adults and in populations at risk for falls, the use of rocker bottom or other unstable shoes may increase the potential of falls when confronted with a standing perturbation such as a forceful slip or trip. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Memory for Allergies and Health Foods: How Younger and Older Adults Strategically Remember Critical Health Information

PubMed Central

McGillivray, Shannon; Murayama, Kou; Castel, Alan D.

2016-01-01

Objectives: While older adults often display memory deficits, with practice, they can sometimes selectively remember valuable information at the expense of less value information. We examined age-related differences and similarities in memory for health-related information under conditions where some information was critical to remember. Method: In Experiment 1, participants studied 3 lists of allergens, ranging in severity from 0 (not a health risk) to 10 (potentially fatal), with the instruction that it was particularly important to remember items to which a fictional relative was most severely allergic. After each list, participants received feedback regarding their recall of the high-value allergens. Experiment 2 examined memory for health benefits, presenting foods that were potentially beneficial to the relative’s immune system. Results: While younger adults exhibited better overall memory for the allergens, both age groups in Experiment 1 developed improved selectivity across the lists, with no evident age differences in severe allergen recall by List 2. Selectivity also developed in Experiment 2, although age differences for items of high health benefit were present. Discussion: The results have implications for models of selective memory in older age, and for how aging influences the ability to strategically remember important information within health-related contexts. PMID:25975293

OLDER ADULTS CATCH UP TO YOUNGER ADULTS ON A LEARNING AND MEMORY TASK THAT INVOLVES COLLABORATIVE SOCIAL INTERACTION

PubMed Central

Derksen, B.J.; Duff, M.C.; Weldon, K.; Zhang, J.; Zamba, G.; Tranel, D.; Denburg, N.L.

2014-01-01

Learning and memory abilities tend to decline as people age. The current study examines the question of whether a learning situation that emphasizes collaborative social interaction might help older persons overcome age-related learning and memory changes and thus perform similarly to younger persons. Younger and Older participants (n = 34 in each group) completed the Barrier Task, a game-like social interaction where partners work together to develop labels for a set of abstract tangrams. Participants were also administered standard clinical neuropsychological measures of memory, on which the Older group showed expected inferiority to the Younger group. On the Barrier Task, the Older group performed less well than the Younger group early on, but as the task progressed, the performance of the Older group caught up and became statistically indistinguishable from that of the Younger group. These results can be taken to suggest that a learning milieu characterized by collaborative social interaction can attenuate some of the typical memory disadvantages associated with being older. PMID:24841619

Older adults catch up to younger adults on a learning and memory task that involves collaborative social interaction.

PubMed

Derksen, B J; Duff, M C; Weldon, K; Zhang, J; Zamba, K D; Tranel, D; Denburg, N L

2015-01-01

Learning and memory abilities tend to decline as people age. The current study examines the question of whether a learning situation that emphasises collaborative social interaction might help older persons overcome age-related learning and memory changes and thus perform similarly to younger persons. Younger and Older participants (n = 34 in each group) completed the Barrier Task (BT), a game-like social interaction where partners work together to develop labels for a set of abstract tangrams. Participants were also administered standard clinical neuropsychological measures of memory, on which the Older group showed expected inferiority to the Younger group. On the BT, the Older group performed less well than the Younger group early on, but as the task progressed, the performance of the Older group caught up and became statistically indistinguishable from that of the Younger group. These results can be taken to suggest that a learning milieu characterised by collaborative social interaction can attenuate some of the typical memory disadvantages associated with being older.

Aging, Empathy, and Prosociality

PubMed Central

Sheehan, Alexander H.; Dahlben, Brian; Gutchess, Angela H.

2015-01-01

Objectives. Although empathy is a well-established motivation in younger adults for helping others, it is not known whether this extends to aging. Prioritization of socioemotional goals with age may increase the salience of helping others (i.e., prosocial behavior), but older adults also experience decreased cognitive empathy. Thus, we investigated age-related differences in relationships among empathy and prosocial behavior. Method. Participants were 24 younger (M = 19.8 years) and 24 older (M = 77.9 years) healthy adults. Whereas participants believed the study involved playing the dictator game, in reality, state emotional empathy was induced implicitly through a note from an opponent describing their experience with cancer. Prosocial behavior was measured by participants’ monetary offers to that opponent. Results. Older adults showed greater prosocial behavior due to the empathy induction than younger adults. There was a positive association between state emotional empathy ratings and prosocial behavior in older, but not in younger adults, and preliminary evidence for higher state emotional empathy levels in older adults with higher trait cognitive empathy. Discussion. This suggests that in contexts relevant to socioemotional goals, older adults may be more motivated than younger adults to help others and state emotional empathy may be a potential mechanism for greater prosocial behavior in aging. PMID:24115776

Younger and Older Adults Weigh Multiple Cues in a Similar Manner to Generate Judgments of Learning

PubMed Central

Hines, Jarrod C.; Hertzog, Christopher; Touron, Dayna R.

2015-01-01

One's memory for past test performance (MPT) is a key piece of information individuals use when deciding how to restudy material. We used a multi-trial recognition memory task to examine adult age differences in the influence of MPT (measured by actual Trial 1 memory accuracy and subjective confidence judgments, CJs) along with Trial 1 judgments of learning (JOLs), objective and participant-estimated recognition fluencies, and Trial 2 study time on Trial 2 JOLs. We found evidence of simultaneous and independent influences of multiple objective and subjective (i.e., metacognitive) cues on Trial 2 JOLs, and these relationships were highly similar for younger and older adults. Individual differences in Trial 1 recognition accuracy and CJs on Trial 2 JOLs indicate that individuals may vary in the degree to which they rely on each MPT cue when assessing subsequent memory confidence. Aging appears to spare the ability to access multiple cues when making JOLs. PMID:25827630

The Interpretative Lenses of Older Adults Are Not Rose-Colored – Just Less Dark: Aging and the Interpretation of Ambiguous Scenarios

PubMed Central

Mikels, Joseph A.; Shuster, Michael M.

2015-01-01

We are all faced with ambiguous situations daily that we must interpret to make sense of the world. In such situations, do you wear rose-colored glasses and fill in blanks with positives, or do you wear dark glasses and fill in blanks with negatives? In the current study, we presented 32 older and 32 younger adults with a series of ambiguous scenarios and had them continue the stories. Older adults continued the scenarios with less negativity than younger adults, as measured by negative and positive emotion word use and by the coded overall emotional valence of each interpretation. These results illuminate an interpretative approach by older adults that favors less negative endings and that supports broader age-related positivity. Additionally, older adults interpreted social scenarios with less emotionality than younger adults. These findings uncover a new manifestation of age-related positivity in spontaneous speech generated in response to ambiguity, indicating that older adults tend to create emotional meaning differently from the young. PMID:26322570

Younger and Older Adults' "Good-Enough" Interpretations of Garden-Path Sentences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christianson, Kiel; Williams, Carrick C.; Zacks, Rose T.; Ferreira, Fernanda

2006-01-01

We report 3 experiments that examined younger and older adults' reliance on "good-enough" interpretations for garden-path sentences (e.g., "While Anna dressed the baby played in the crib") as indicated by their responding "Yes" to questions probing the initial, syntactically unlicensed interpretation (e.g., "Did Anna dress the baby?"). The…

Health Services Utilization between Older and Younger Homeless Adults.(author Abstract)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nakonezny, Paul A.; Ojeda, Michael

2005-01-01

Purpose: Our purpose in the current study was to examine the relationship between health services utilization delivered by means of the Homeless Outreach Medical Services (HOMES) program and health services utilization delivered by means of the Parkland emergency room and inpatient units among a sample of older and younger homeless adults being…

Pharmacokinetics and effect on the corrected QT interval of single-dose escitalopram in healthy elderly compared with younger adults.

PubMed

Chung, Hyewon; Kim, Anhye; Lim, Kyoung Soo; Park, Sang-In; Yu, Kyung-Sang; Yoon, Seo Hyun; Cho, Joo-Youn; Chung, Jae-Yong

2017-01-01

Escitalopram is the (S)-enantiomer of citalopram that has a potential QT prolonging effect. In this study, 12 healthy elderly individuals received a single oral dose of escitalopram (20 mg), and their pharmacokinetics and QT effect data were compared with data from 33 younger adults obtained in a previous study. Serial blood samples for pharmacokinetic analysis were collected and ECG was performed up to 48 h postdose. The elderly and younger adults showed similar pharmacokinetic profiles. The geometric mean ratios (90% confidence interval) of the elderly compared with the younger adults were 1.02 (0.89-1.17) and 1.01 (0.86-1.17) for the maximum plasma concentration and area under the concentration-time curve, respectively. The mean baseline-adjusted QT (dQT) time profiles were similar and the mean values of maximum dQT were not significantly different between the elderly and the younger adults. The linear mixed-effect model indicated a weak but positive relationship between the escitalopram concentration and dQT, with an estimated coefficient of concentration of 0.43-0.54. In conclusion, the pharmacokinetics and QT effect of a single dose of escitalopram observed in the elderly without comorbidities and younger adults were generally similar.

Does Language Help Regularity Learning? The Influence of Verbalizations on Implicit Sequential Regularity Learning and the Emergence of Explicit Knowledge in Children, Younger and Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferdinand, Nicola K.; Kray, Jutta

2017-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the ability to learn regularities across the life span and examine whether this learning process can be supported or hampered by verbalizations. For this purpose, children (aged 8-10 years) and younger (aged 19-30 years) and older (aged 70-80 years) adults took part in a sequence learning experiment. We found that…

Age-Related Gene Expression Differences in Monocytes from Human Neonates, Young Adults, and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Tong, Ann-Jay; Kollmann, Tobias R.; Smale, Stephen T.

2015-01-01

A variety of age-related differences in the innate and adaptive immune systems have been proposed to contribute to the increased susceptibility to infection of human neonates and older adults. The emergence of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) provides an opportunity to obtain an unbiased, comprehensive, and quantitative view of gene expression differences in defined cell types from different age groups. An examination of ex vivo human monocyte responses to lipopolysaccharide stimulation or Listeria monocytogenes infection by RNA-seq revealed extensive similarities between neonates, young adults, and older adults, with an unexpectedly small number of genes exhibiting statistically significant age-dependent differences. By examining the differentially induced genes in the context of transcription factor binding motifs and RNA-seq data sets from mutant mouse strains, a previously described deficiency in interferon response factor-3 activity could be implicated in most of the differences between newborns and young adults. Contrary to these observations, older adults exhibited elevated expression of inflammatory genes at baseline, yet the responses following stimulation correlated more closely with those observed in younger adults. Notably, major differences in the expression of constitutively expressed genes were not observed, suggesting that the age-related differences are driven by environmental influences rather than cell-autonomous differences in monocyte development. PMID:26147648

You Never Lose the Ages You’ve Been: Affective Perspective Taking in Older Adults

PubMed Central

Sullivan, Sarah J.; Mikels, Joseph A.; Carstensen, Laura L.

2009-01-01

Aging appears to be associated with a growing preference for positive over negative information (Carstensen, Mikels, & Mather, 2006). In this study, we investigated potential awareness of the phenomenon by asking older people to recollect material from the perspective of a younger person. Younger and older participants listened to stories about 25 and 75-year-old protagonists, and then were asked to retell the stories from the perspective of the protagonists. Older adults used relatively more positive than negative words when retelling from the perspective of a 75 versus 25-year-old. Younger adults, however, used comparable numbers of positive and negative words regardless of perspective. These findings contribute to a growing literature that points to developmental gains in the emotion domain. PMID:20230142

The Effects of Avatars' Age on Older Adults' Self-Disclosure and Trust.

PubMed

Lee, Yu-Hao; Xiao, Min; Wells, Robert H

2018-03-01

Older adults are increasingly interacting with other people online via virtual avatars, yet little is known about how avatars affect older adults' behavior. This study examines how interacting avatars' age affects older adult's self-disclosure and trust in a relation-building context. Previous studies have found that users can take on behaviors consistent with characteristics of the avatars. In social interactions, people also assess their avatar in relation to other avatars for similarity or differences. We conducted a 2 (self-avatar: old vs. young) × 2 (other's avatar: old vs. young) experiment with older-adult participants aged 60+ (n = 95). The findings show that using younger avatars did not increase self-disclosure. However, the older-adult participants disclosed more information when their avatar's age matched their partner avatar's age (i.e., old to old, young to young). They also trust their partners more when the interacting avatars shared similar age. This study provides theoretical insights into the role of avatars in online relationship-building and extends our understanding of the avatar effects on older adults.

Confucian Values as a Buffer Against Age-Based Stereotype Threat for Chinese Older Adults.

PubMed

Tan, Shyuan Ching; Barber, Sarah J

2018-05-16

Research has shown that stereotype threat can impair older adults' memory in Western cultures. We tested whether this also occurs for older adults from the East Asian Chinese culture. We also tested whether an intervention that highlighted Confucian principles would protect Chinese older adults from stereotype threat's detrimental effects. Culturally-Chinese older adults residing in the United States completed a memory test either under age-based stereotype threat about cognitive decline or not. Prior to this, some participants were also reminded of Confucian traditions of filial piety and were assured these values had been transmitted to the younger generation. Stereotype threat impaired Chinese older adults' memory performance. However, our intervention was effective in eliminating this deficit. When the Chinese participants were reminded of the Confucian principle of filial piety they did not exhibit stereotype threat effects. Confirming that younger adults have an obligation to respect their elders can eliminate the social-evaluative pressure of stereotype threat for Chinese older adults. These findings are noteworthy since population aging is happening at an unprecedented pace in East Asia. Although our results suggest that stereotype threat can adversely affect older adults' cognitive performance in these societies, we also identify a culturally-based intervention to alleviate this impairment.

AGE IS RELEVANT: DISTINCTIVE RISK FACTORS AND PHENOTYPE OF YOUNGER PATIENTS WITH RESISTANT HYPERTENSION

PubMed Central

Ghazi, Lama; Oparil, Suzanne; Calhoun, David A.; Lin, Chee Paul; Dudenbostel, Tanja

2017-01-01

Resistant hypertension, defined as blood pressure >140/90 mmHg despite using ≥3 antihypertensive medications, is a well-recognized clinical entity. Patients with resistant hypertension are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease compared with those with more easily controlled hypertension. Coronary heart disease mortality rates of younger adults are stagnating or on the rise. The purpose of our study was to characterize the phenotype and risk factors of younger patients with resistant hypertension given the dearth of data on cardiovascular risk profile in this cohort. We conducted a cross sectional analysis with predefined age groups of a large, ethnically diverse cohort of 2170 patients referred to the Hypertension Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 2068 patients met the inclusion criteria and were classified by age groups, i.e. ≤40 yrs (12.7 % of total cohort), 41–55 yrs (32.1%), 56–70 yrs (36.1%) and ≥71 yrs (19.1%). Patients ≤40 yrs of age compared with ≥71 yrs, had significantly earlier onset of HTN (24.7±7.4vs 55.0±14.1 yrs, p<0.0001), higher rates of obesity (53.4% vs 26.9%, p<0.0001), and significantly higher levels of plasma aldosterone (11.3±9.8 vs 8.9±7.4 ng/dl, p=0.005), plasma renin activity (4.9±10.2 vs 2.5±5.0 ng/ml/hr, p=0.001), and 24-hr urinary aldosterone (13.4±10.0 vs 8.2±6.2 μg/24hr, p<0.0001) and sodium excretion (195.9±92.0 vs 146.8±67.1 mEq/24hr, p<0.0001). Among patients with resistant hypertension, younger individuals have a distinct phenotype characterized by overlapping risk factors and comorbidities, including obesity, high aldosterone and high dietary sodium intake compared to elderly. PMID:28348010

Memory for Allergies and Health Foods: How Younger and Older Adults Strategically Remember Critical Health Information.

PubMed

Middlebrooks, Catherine D; McGillivray, Shannon; Murayama, Kou; Castel, Alan D

2016-05-01

While older adults often display memory deficits, with practice, they can sometimes selectively remember valuable information at the expense of less value information. We examined age-related differences and similarities in memory for health-related information under conditions where some information was critical to remember. In Experiment 1, participants studied 3 lists of allergens, ranging in severity from 0 (not a health risk) to 10 (potentially fatal), with the instruction that it was particularly important to remember items to which a fictional relative was most severely allergic. After each list, participants received feedback regarding their recall of the high-value allergens. Experiment 2 examined memory for health benefits, presenting foods that were potentially beneficial to the relative's immune system. While younger adults exhibited better overall memory for the allergens, both age groups in Experiment 1 developed improved selectivity across the lists, with no evident age differences in severe allergen recall by List 2. Selectivity also developed in Experiment 2, although age differences for items of high health benefit were present. The results have implications for models of selective memory in older age, and for how aging influences the ability to strategically remember important information within health-related contexts. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Listening effort in younger and older adults: A comparison of auditory-only and auditory-visual presentations

PubMed Central

Sommers, Mitchell S.; Phelps, Damian

2016-01-01

One goal of the present study was to establish whether providing younger and older adults with visual speech information (both seeing and hearing a talker compared with listening alone) would reduce listening effort for understanding speech in noise. In addition, we used an individual differences approach to assess whether changes in listening effort were related to changes in visual enhancement – the improvement in speech understanding in going from an auditory-only (A-only) to an auditory-visual condition (AV) condition. To compare word recognition in A-only and AV modalities, younger and older adults identified words in both A-only and AV conditions in the presence of six-talker babble. Listening effort was assessed using a modified version of a serial recall task. Participants heard (A-only) or saw and heard (AV) a talker producing individual words without background noise. List presentation was stopped randomly and participants were then asked to repeat the last 3 words that were presented. Listening effort was assessed using recall performance in the 2-back and 3-back positions. Younger, but not older, adults exhibited reduced listening effort as indexed by greater recall in the 2- and 3-back positions for the AV compared with the A-only presentations. For younger, but not older adults, changes in performance from the A-only to the AV condition were moderately correlated with visual enhancement. Results are discussed within a limited-resource model of both A-only and AV speech perception. PMID:27355772

Age identity, self-rated health, and life satisfaction among older adults in Dakar, Senegal.

PubMed

Macia, Enguerran; Duboz, Priscilla; Montepare, Joann M; Gueye, Lamine

2012-09-01

The objectives of this quantitative study were to (1) ascertain to what extent older adults aged 50 and above feel and desire to be younger than their age, and classify themselves as young versus old; (2) compare these patterns with those found among other cross-cultural populations; and (3) assess the extent to which self-rated health and life satisfaction predict age identities. This study was carried out on a sample of 500 dwellers of the Senegalese capital aged 50 and older. This sample was constructed using the quota method to strive for representativeness. Most of the respondents wanted to be younger than their chronological age (51.8 %), but only 27.8 % felt younger than they were. Moreover, 80 % of the sample claimed to be old. Self-rated health predicted felt age and the feeling of being old. Furthermore, the less-satisfied Dakar residents were with their life, the younger they wanted to be. We first discuss our results in a comparative perspective focused on how orientations toward individualism and collectivism could be related to age identity, and on demographic characteristics of the Senegalese population-where life expectancy is 59.3 years old. We then analyze the relevance of age identity dimensions as indicators of successful aging in Dakar.

Age differences among older adults in the use of emotion regulation strategies. What happens among over 85s and centenarians?

PubMed

Etxeberria, Igone; Etxebarria, Itziar; Urdaneta, Elena; Yanguas, Jose Javier

2016-09-01

Past research on emotion regulation strategies has concluded that older adults use more passive strategies than young adults. However, we found scarce research in this field focusing on the oldest old (i.e. those aged 85 and over). The aim of this study was to analyze whether or not differences exist in the way older adults aged 85 and over (centenarians included) use emotion regulation strategies, in comparison with younger age groups (65-74 and 75-84 years old). Participants were 257 older adults from Spain, all aged between 65 and 104. The sample was divided into four age groups: 65-74; 75-84; 85-94; and 95-104 years old. Participants completed the Strategy Questionnaire after reading each of the vignettes designed to elicit feelings of either sadness or anger. The questionnaire measures four types of regulation strategies: Passive, Express, Solve and Seek. The 85-94 age group and centenarians were found to use proactive (Express, Seek) and Solve strategies less in comparison with younger age groups when regulating sadness and anger. In contrast, an increased use of Passive strategies was observed in the regulation of both emotions in the 85-94 age group. Significant differences were also found between centenarians and younger age groups in the use of Passive strategies for sadness, although not for anger. Age differences were observed in the use of emotion regulation strategies, with older age groups using proactive strategies less and passive strategies more.

Aging and interference in story recall.

PubMed

Mund, Iris; Bell, Raoul; Buchner, Axel

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: According to inhibitory deficit theory, older adults should be more impaired by visual distractors than younger adults when reading texts. Studies using a multiple-choice recognition test to examine age differences in the impairment of text comprehension due to distractor words yielded inconsistent results. In the present study, younger participants and older participants were required to read short texts comprising unrelated, related, or no distractor words. Visual acuity was equated between groups. Text recall was assessed using a gist-based propositional scoring procedure. There were pronounced age differences in reading with distraction. Older adults were slowed down more than younger adults by the presence of distractor words when reading. Furthermore, older adults' story recall was clearly impaired by the presence of distractor material, whereas younger adults' recall performance was not. In addition, older adults were more likely to make intrusion errors. Consistent with inhibitory deficit theory, the findings suggest that older adults were less able than younger adults to establish a correct mental representation of the target text when distractors were present. Furthermore, older adults were more likely than younger adults to build up incorrect memory representations that comprise distractor concepts. Thus, there are pronounced age differences in the impairment of text comprehension by distracting information.

Age-Related Differences in the Rate, Timing, and Diagnosis of 30-Day Readmissions in Hospitalized Adults With Asthma Exacerbation.

PubMed

Hasegawa, Kohei; Gibo, Koichiro; Tsugawa, Yusuke; Shimada, Yuichi J; Camargo, Carlos A

2016-04-01

Reducing hospital readmissions has attracted attention from many stakeholders. However, the characteristics of 30-day readmissions after asthma-related hospital admissions in adults are not known. It is also unclear whether older adults are at higher risk of 30-day readmission. To investigate the rate, timing, and principal diagnosis of 30-day readmissions in adults with asthma and to determine age-related differences. Retrospective cohort study of adults hospitalized for asthma exacerbation using the population-based inpatient samples of three states (California, Florida, and Nebraska) from 2005 through 2011. Patients were categorized into three age groups: younger (18-39 years), middle aged (40-64 years), and older (≥ 65 years) adults. Outcomes were 30-day all-cause readmission rate, timing, and principal diagnosis of readmission. Of 301,164 asthma-related admissions at risk for 30-day readmission, readmission rate was 14.5%. Compared with younger adults, older adults had significantly higher readmission rates (10.1% vs 16.5%; OR, 2.15 [95% CI, 2.07-2.23]; P < .001). The higher rate attenuated with adjustment (OR, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.13-1.26]; P < .001), indicating that most of the age-related difference is explained by sociodemographics and comorbidities. For all age groups, readmission rate was highest in the first week after discharge and declined thereafter. Overall, only 47.1% of readmissions were assigned respiratory diagnoses (asthma, COPD, pneumonia, and respiratory failure). Older adults were more likely to present with nonrespiratory diagnoses (41.7% vs 53.8%; P < .001). After asthma-related admission, 14.5% of patients had 30-day readmission with wide range of principal diagnoses. Compared with younger adults, older adults had higher 30-day readmission rates and proportions of nonrespiratory diagnoses. Copyright © 2016 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fingolimod Prescribed for the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis in Patients Younger Than Age 18 Years.

PubMed

Fragoso, Yara Dadalti; Alves-Leon, Soniza Vieira; Barreira, Amilton Antunes; Callegaro, Dagoberto; Brito Ferreira, Maria Lucia; Finkelsztejn, Alessandro; Gomes, Sidney; Magno Goncalves, Marcus Vinicius; Moraes Machado, Maria Iris; Marques, Vanessa Daccach; Cunha Matta, Andre Palma; Papais-Alvarenga, Regina Maria; Apostolos Pereira, Samira Luisa; Tauil, Carlos Bernardo

2015-08-01

There have been no clinical trials for approval of medications for treating multiple sclerosis in patients younger than age 18 years. All treatments are based on personal experience and data from open observational studies. Fingolimod is an oral drug for multiple sclerosis that has been shown to be efficient and safe in adults. The aim of our study is to describe patients with multiple sclerosis who started treatment with fingolimod before the age of 18 years. Seventeen patients treated with fingolimod were identified in the Brazilian database of children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis. The average time of use of the drug was 8.6 months. Fingolimod showed a good safety and efficacy profile in these patients, all of whom had very active multiple sclerosis. After starting treatment with fingolimod, only one patient had a relapse and a new lesion on magnetic resonance imaging. The patients' degree of disability did not progress. No major adverse events were reported in relation to the first dose of the drug, nor in the short- and medium-term treatment. No patient has been followed for longer than 18 months, thus limiting long-term conclusions. Off-label use of fingolimod in patients younger than age 18 years may be a good therapeutic option for multiple sclerosis control. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Emotional experience and regulation across the adult lifespan: comparative analysis in three age groups].

PubMed

Márquez-González, María; Izal Fernández de Trocóniz, María; Montorio Cerrato, Ignacio; Losada Baltar, Andrés

2008-11-01

The studies focused on age-related differences in emotional experience are still scarce, and most of them have been conducted with North-American samples. This study explores the presence of age-related differences in some facets of emotional experience (subjective well-being and emotional intensity), as well as in variables related to emotion regulation (subjective emotional control and three emotion-regulation mechanisms: situation selection, emotion suppression, rumination) in the Spanish population. One hundred and sixty people from three age groups (younger, middle-aged and older adults) participated in the study. Older participants reported lower levels of life satisfaction and positive emotional intensity than younger ones, as well as higher levels of perceived emotional control, emotional maturity and leveling of positive affect, and more use of emotion suppression. The results partially support the emotional maturity hypothesis of emotional functioning in old age, but also suggest that older adults' emotional regulation may present important peculiarities which have not yet been addressed in the extant literature, such as the moderation or limitation of emotional experience, especially positive emotions.

Age differences in autobiographical memory across the adult lifespan: older adults report stronger phenomenology.

PubMed

Luchetti, Martina; Sutin, Angelina R

2018-01-01

As an individual's life story evolves across adulthood, the subjective experience (phenomenology) of autobiographical memory likely changes. In addition to age at retrieval, both the recency of the memory and the age when a memory is formed may be particularly important to its phenomenology. The present work examines the effect of three temporal factors on phenomenology ratings: (a) age of the participant, (b) age at the event reported in the memory, and (c) memory age (recency). A large sample of Americans (N = 1120), stratified by chronological age, recalled and rated two meaningful memories, a Turning Point and an Early Childhood Memory. Ratings of phenomenology (e.g., vividness of turning points) were higher among older adults compared to younger adults. Memories of events from the reminiscence bump were more positive in valence than events from other time periods but did not differ on other phenomenological dimensions; recent memories had stronger phenomenology than remote memories. In contrast to phenomenology, narrative content was generally unrelated to participant age, age at the event, or memory age. Overall, the findings indicate age-related differences in how meaningful memories are re-experienced.

Migraine in a pediatric population: a clinical study in children younger than 7 years of age.

PubMed

Raieli, Vincenzo; Pitino, Renata; Giordano, Giuliana; Spitalieri, Chiara; Consolo, Flavia; Puma, Domenico; Santangelo, Giuseppe; Vanadia, Francesca; D'Amelio, Marco

2015-06-01

Migraines in children younger than 7 years of age have received limited attention in the published literature. The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of migraine phenotypes in children younger than 7 years, and to compare them with migraines in children older than 7 years of age. We reviewed all standard clinical files, collected over 4 years, related to children with a diagnosis of primary headache. We included all children younger than 7 years diagnosed with migraine in our study. A total of 374 children (188 males, 186 females) were affected by migraine with/without aura: 40 of these patients (10.7%; 20 males, 20 females; mean age 5y 7mo, SD 1y 2mo) where younger than 7 years old. The frequencies of the main migraine features in the younger age group were similar to those of children older than 7 years, with the exception of a shorter duration of migraine and reduced frequency of attacks. In children younger than 7 years of age, the clinical phenotype of migraine is similar to that seen in older children. We propose that there is a general genetic migraine susceptibility that, in the presence of activating environmental factors, may induce typical attacks of migraine in individuals already predisposed to migraine attacks. Therefore, different modules induce different clinical features within the different age groups, but there is no difference in the frequencies of clinical phenotypes between the two age groups. © 2015 Mac Keith Press.

Age-Related Differences in Idiom Production in Adulthood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conner, Peggy S.; Hyun, Jungmoon; O'Connor Wells, Barbara; Anema, Inge; Goral, Mira; Monereau-Merry, Marie-Michelle; Rubino, Daniel; Kuckuk, Raija; Obler, Loraine K.

2011-01-01

To investigate whether idiom production was vulnerable to age-related difficulties, we asked 40 younger (ages 18-30) and 40 older healthy adults (ages 60-85) to produce idiomatic expressions in a story-completion task. Younger adults produced significantly more correct idiom responses (73%) than did older adults (60%). When older adults generated…

Otological diagnoses and probable age-related auditory neuropathy in "younger" and "older" elderly persons.

PubMed

Rosenhall, Ulf; Hederstierna, Christina; Idrizbegovic, Esma

2011-09-01

Audiological data from a population based epidemiological investigation were studied on elderly persons. Specific diagnoses of otological and audiological disorders, which can result in hearing loss, were searched for. A retrospective register study. Three age cohorts, 474 70- and 75-year olds ("younger"), and 252 85-year olds ("older"), were studied. Clinical pure tone and speech audiometry was used. Data from medical files were included. Conductive hearing loss was diagnosed in 6.1% of the "younger" elderly persons, and in 10.3% of the "older" ones. Specific diagnoses (chronic otitis media and otosclerosis) were established in about half of the cases. Sensorineural hearing loss, other than age-related hearing loss and noise induced hearing loss, was diagnosed in 3.4 % and 5.2% respectively. Severely impaired speech recognition, possibly reflecting age-related auditory neuropathy, was found in 0.4% in the "younger" group, and in 10% in the "older" group. Bilateral functional deafness was present in 3.2% of the 85-year-old persons, but was not present in the 70-75-year group. The incidence of probable age-related auditory neuropathy increases considerably from 70-75 to 85 years. There are marked differences between "younger" and "older" elderly persons regarding hearing loss that severely affects oral communication.

Emotional arousal and recognition memory are differentially reflected in pupil diameter responses during emotional memory for negative events in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Hämmerer, Dorothea; Hopkins, Alexandra; Betts, Matthew J; Maaß, Anne; Dolan, Ray J; Düzel, Emrah

2017-10-01

A better memory for negative emotional events is often attributed to a conjoint impact of increased arousal and noradrenergic modulation (NA). A decline in NA during aging is well documented but its impact on memory function during aging is unclear. Using pupil diameter (PD) as a proxy for NA, we examined age differences in memory for negative events in younger (18-30 years) and older (62-83 years) adults based on a segregation of early arousal to negative events, and later retrieval-related PD responses. In keeping with the hypothesis of reduced age-related NA influences, older adults showed attenuated induced PD responses to negative emotional events. The findings highlight a likely contribution of NA to negative emotional memory, mediated via arousal that may be compromised with aging. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Working memory plasticity and aging.

PubMed

Rhodes, Rebecca E; Katz, Benjamin

2017-02-01

The present research explores how the trajectory of learning on a working memory task changes throughout the life span, and whether gains in working memory performance are exclusively a question of initial working memory capacity (WMC) or whether age exerts an independent effect. In a large, cross-sectional study of younger, middle-aged, and older adults, we examined learning on a widely used working memory task-the dual n-back task-over 20 sessions of practice. We found that, while all age groups improved on the task, older adults demonstrated less improvement on the task, and also reached a lower asymptotic maximum performance than younger adults. After controlling for initial WMC, we found that age exerted independent effects on training gains and asymptotic performance; older adults tended to improve less and reached lower levels of performance than younger adults. The difference between younger and older adults' rates of learning depended in part on initial WMC. These results suggest that age-related effects on working memory include not only effects on capacity, but also plasticity and the ability to improve on a task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The Relationship between Age, Gender, Historical Change, and Adults' Perceptions of Mental Health and Mental Health Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Currin, James B.; Hayslip, Bert, Jr.; Temple, Jeff R.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of age, historical change, and gender on perceptions of mental health and mental health services. Using multidimensional measures to assess such perceptions among older adults (1977, 1991, 2000), and younger adults (1991, 2000), we expected that older adults would have less positive mental health…

Liver transplantation in infants younger than 1 year of age.

PubMed Central

Colombani, P M; Cigarroa, F G; Schwarz, K; Wise, B; Maley, W E; Klein, A S

1996-01-01

), bacterial and fungal infections (77%), and viral infections (46%). Epstein-Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferative developed in two patients (15%). Intestinal perforation requiring reoperation developed in two patients (15%). Bile leaks requiring reoperation or transhepatic stinting or both developed in three patients (23%). Two patients died in the perioperative period (< 1 month) from a combination of primary nonfunction or graft thrombosis and sepsis. Overall survival was 85%, ranging from 11.0 months to 4.5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Orthotopic liver transplantation in infants younger than 1 year of age poses significant challenges from technical and infectious complications. Despite these barriers, overall patient survival is comparable to that of older children and adults. PMID:8645039

Barriers to exercise in younger and older non-exercising adult women: a cross sectional study in London, United Kingdom.

PubMed

El Ansari, Walid; Lovell, Geoff

2009-04-01

A survey of 100 women in the south of London, United Kingdom (UK) compared exercise barrier intensities between non-exercising younger (20-27 years) and older (28-35 years) adult women; and examined childcare duties as perceived barriers to exercise. Perceived barriers to exercise were examined using an Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale (EBBS) comprising four subscales (exercise milieu; time expenditure; physical exertion; family discouragement). Participants' number of children was also noted. Non-exercising older women reported significantly higher total exercise barriers, as well as across three barrier subscales: exercise milieu, time expenditure, and family discouragement. For both age groups, significant correlation existed between number of children and women's total exercise barrier scores. Number of children explained approximately 25% and approximately 30% of the variance of younger and older women's total barrier scores respectively. For both women groups, the strongest correlation between exercise barrier and number of children was for the time expenditure subscale. Broad grouping of 20-35 year old non-exercising women does not reflect a homogenous sample. Age categories employing narrower age brackets are recommended. Issues surrounding family responsibilities e.g. childcare duties may be shared between these groups and require further research and policy attention.

Feelings towards Older vs. Younger Adults: Results from the European Social Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayalon, Liat

2013-01-01

The study evaluated the association of modernization (at the macro/societal-level) and modernity (at the micro/individual-level) with feelings towards older vs. younger adults. Analysis was based on the fourth wave of the European Social Survey, which includes a rotated module on ageism. The sample consisted of 28 countries and a total of 54,988…

Moderation of genetic and environmental influences on diurnal preference by age in adult twins.

PubMed

Barclay, Nicola L; Watson, Nathaniel F; Buchwald, Dedra; Goldberg, Jack

2014-03-01

Diurnal preference changes across the lifespan. However, the mechanisms underlying this age-related shift are poorly understood. The aim of this twin study was to determine the extent to which genetic and environmental influences on diurnal preference are moderated by age. Seven hundred and sixty-eight monozygotic and 674 dizygotic adult twin pairs participating in the University of Washington Twin Registry completed the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire as a measure of diurnal preference. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 93 years (mean = 36.23, SD = 15.54) and were categorized on the basis of age into three groups: younger adulthood (19-35 years, n = 1715 individuals), middle adulthood (36-64 years, n = 1003 individuals) and older adulthood (65+ years, n = 168 individuals). Increasing age was associated with an increasing tendency towards morningness (r = 0.42, p < 0.001). Structural equation modeling techniques parsed the variance in diurnal preference into genetic and environmental influences for the total sample as well as for each age group separately. Additive genetic influences accounted for 52%[46-57%], and non-shared environmental influences 48%[43-54%], of the total variance in diurnal preference. In comparing univariate genetic models between age groups, the best-fitting model was one in which the parameter estimates for younger adults and older adults were equated, in comparison with middle adulthood. For younger and older adulthood, additive genetic influences accounted for 44%[31-49%] and non-shared environmental influences 56%[49-64%] of variance in diurnal preference, whereas for middle adulthood these estimates were 34%[21-45%] and 66%[55-79%], respectively. Therefore, genetic influences on diurnal preference are attenuated in middle adulthood. Attenuation is likely driven by the increased importance of work and family responsibilities during this life stage, in comparison with younger and older

Beliefs about age-related changes in physical functioning across the adult life span and their relationship with physical activity levels of older adults.

PubMed

Lineweaver, Tara T; Kugler, Jennifer; Rabellino, Alessandra; Stephan, Yannick

2018-07-01

Physical activity declines across the adult life span despite the well-established links between physical activity and health-related, psychological, cognitive, and social benefits. We contrasted the beliefs young and older adults hold about how aging affects both physical abilities and physical activity and determined whether older adults' beliefs about physical aging relate to their engagement in physical activity. Using visual rating scales, 56 young and 49 community-dwelling older adults indicated the extent to which a typical woman or typical man aged 20-90 possesses six different physical abilities and engages in three different types of physical activity. Stereotypes of physical aging were ability- and activity-specific, and older adults endorsed more positive views than their younger peers. Stereotypical beliefs predicted older adults' engagement in moderate-intensity activity. This study offers intriguing avenues for future research and suggests that better understanding physical aging stereotypes may contribute toward designing interventions that promote lifelong physical activity.

Effectiveness of water fluoridation in the prevention of dental caries across adult age groups.

PubMed

Do, Loc; Ha, Diep; Peres, Marco A; Skinner, John; Byun, Roy; Spencer, A John

2017-06-01

Lifetime access to fluoridated water (FW) is associated with lower caries experience. However, assessing this association in adults is likely affected by age. Cohort stratification and categorization of per cent lifetime access to fluoridated water (% LAFW) within cohorts are current approaches to this assessment. These approaches require an examination of the % LAFW and caries experience variation within and across age groups and their association to inform future analyses. This secondary analysis aimed to examine the age group variation in % LAFW and caries experience; and the association of % LAFW with caries within and across age groups of adults. A secondary analysis was undertaken using the Australian National Survey of Adult Oral Health 2004-2006 data on 4090 persons aged 15-91 years randomly sampled by a stratified, multistage probability method. Study participants underwent an interview, an oral examination by trained and standardized dentists to determine decayed, missing or filled tooth surfaces (DMFS) and a mailed self-complete questionnaire which collected residential history to calculate % LAFW. Variations in % LAFW and DMFS across age groups (15-34; 35-44; 45-54; 55+) were examined. Multivariable regression log-link models were generated for DMFS score within each age group. The age groups varied in values and distribution of % LAFW. Caries experience was strongly associated with age. % LAFW was significantly associated with DMFS score in the two younger age groups, but not in the others. Multivariable regression models showed that the highest % LAFW quartile had significantly lower DMFS count than the lowest quartile in the two younger age groups (mean ratios: 0.67 and 0.78, respectively), controlling for other covariates. Access to FW was associated with caries experience in Australian adults. The magnitude of associations varied between age groups, dependent on the natural history of caries and its measurement by DMFS. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A

Older and Younger Family Caregivers of Adults with Intellectual Disability: Factors Associated with Future Plans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chou, Yueh-Ching; Lee, Yue-Chune; Lin, Li-Chan; Kroger, Teppo; Chang, Ai-Ning

2009-01-01

A structured interview survey was conducted in a major city in Taiwan to explore and compare older and younger family primary caregivers' well being and their future caregiving plans for these adults with intellectual disability. The sample size was 315 caregivers who were 55 years or older and who cared for adults with intellectual disability and…

Quality of Life in the Nursing Home: Perspectives of Younger and Older Residents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watt, Ashli; Konnert, Candace

2007-01-01

Adults aged 65 and younger make up a significant proportion of nursing-home residents. To date, however, there is no research examining their quality of life (QOL), including how their perceptions of QOL compare to those of older nursing-home residents. This study used a multidimensional approach to (a) assess the QOL of younger nursing-home…

Effects of Perceptual and Contextual Enrichment on Visual Confrontation Naming in Adult Aging

PubMed Central

Rogalski, Yvonne; Peelle, Jonathan E.; Reilly, Jamie

2013-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of enriching line drawings with color/texture and environmental context as a facilitator of naming speed and accuracy in older adults. Method Twenty young and 23 older adults named high-frequency picture stimuli from the Boston Naming Test (Kaplan, Goodglass, & Weintraub, 2001) under three conditions: (a) black-and-white items, (b) colorized-texturized items, and (c) scene-primed colored items (e.g., “hammock” preceded 1,000 ms by a backyard scene). Results With respect to speeded naming latencies, mixed-model analyses of variance revealed that young adults did not benefit from colorization-texturization but did show scene-priming effects. In contrast, older adults failed to show facilitation effects from either colorized-texturized or scene-primed items. Moreover, older adults were consistently slower to initiate naming than were their younger counterparts across all conditions. Conclusions Perceptual and contextual enrichment of sparse line drawings does not appear to facilitate visual confrontation naming in older adults, whereas younger adults do tend to show benefits of scene priming. We interpret these findings as generally supportive of a processing speed account of age-related object picture-naming difficulty. PMID:21498581

Age-Related Differences in the Brain Areas outside the Classical Language Areas among Adults Using Category Decision Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Yong Won; Song, Hui-Jin; Lee, Jae Jun; Lee, Joo Hwa; Lee, Hui Joong; Yi, Sang Doe; Chang, Hyuk Won; Berl, Madison M.; Gaillard, William D.; Chang, Yongmin

2012-01-01

Older adults perform much like younger adults on language. This similar level of performance, however, may come about through different underlying brain processes. In the present study, we evaluated age-related differences in the brain areas outside the typical language areas among adults using a category decision task. Our results showed that…

MRI-measured pelvic bone marrow adipose tissue is inversely related to DXA-measured bone mineral in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Shen, W; Chen, J; Gantz, M; Punyanitya, M; Heymsfield, S B; Gallagher, D; Albu, J; Engelson, E; Kotler, D; Pi-Sunyer, X; Gilsanz, V

2012-09-01

Recent research has shown an inverse relationship between bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) and bone mineral density (BMD). There is a lack of evidence at the macro-imaging level to establish whether increased BMAT is a cause or effect of bone loss. This cross-sectional study compared the BMAT and BMD relationship between a younger adult group at or approaching peak bone mass (PBM; age 18.0-39.9 years) and an older group with potential bone loss (PoBL; age 40.0-88.0 years). Pelvic BMAT was evaluated in 560 healthy men and women with T1-weighted whole-body magnetic resonance imaging. BMD was measured using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. An inverse correlation was observed between pelvic BMAT and pelvic, total and spine BMD in the younger PBM group (r=-0.419 to -0.461, P<0.001) and in the older PoBL group (r=-0.405 to -0.500, P<0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, menopausal status, total body fat, skeletal muscle, subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue, neither subject group (younger PBM vs older PoBL) nor its interaction with pelvic BMAT significantly contributed to the regression models with BMD as dependent variable and pelvic BMAT as independent variable (P=0.434-0.928). Our findings indicate that an inverse relationship between pelvic BMAT and BMD is present both in younger subjects who have not yet experienced bone loss and also in older subjects. These results provide support at the macro-imaging level for the hypothesis that low BMD may be a result of preferential differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells from osteoblasts to adipocytes.

The ironic effect of guessing: increased false memory for mediated lists in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Coane, Jennifer H.; Huff, Mark J.; Hutchison, Keith A.

2016-01-01

Younger and older adults studied lists of words directly (e.g., creek, water) or indirectly (e.g., beaver, faucet) related to a nonpresented critical lure (CL; e.g., river). Indirect (i.e., mediated) lists presented items that were only related to CLs through nonpresented mediators (i.e., directly related items). Following study, participants completed a condition-specific task, math, a recall test with or without a warning about the CL, or tried to guess the CL. On a final recognition test, warnings (vs. math and recall without warning) decreased false recognition for direct lists, and guessing increased mediated false recognition (an ironic effect of guessing) in both age groups. The observed age-invariance of the ironic effect of guessing suggests that processes involved in mediated false memory are preserved in aging and confirms the effect is largely due to activation in semantic networks during encoding and to the strengthening of these networks during the interpolated tasks. PMID:26393390

The ironic effect of guessing: increased false memory for mediated lists in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Coane, Jennifer H; Huff, Mark J; Hutchison, Keith A

2016-01-01

Younger and older adults studied lists of words directly (e.g., creek, water) or indirectly (e.g., beaver, faucet) related to a nonpresented critical lure (CL; e.g., river). Indirect (i.e., mediated) lists presented items that were only related to CLs through nonpresented mediators (i.e., directly related items). Following study, participants completed a condition-specific task, math, a recall test with or without a warning about the CL, or tried to guess the CL. On a final recognition test, warnings (vs. math and recall without warning) decreased false recognition for direct lists, and guessing increased mediated false recognition (an ironic effect of guessing) in both age groups. The observed age-invariance of the ironic effect of guessing suggests that processes involved in mediated false memory are preserved in aging and confirms the effect is largely due to activation in semantic networks during encoding and to the strengthening of these networks during the interpolated tasks.

The Effect of Stimulus Valence on Lexical Retrieval in Younger and Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackett, Deena Schwen; Harnish, Stacy M.; Lundine, Jennifer P.; Zezinka, Alexandra; Healy, Eric W.

2017-01-01

Purpose: Although there is evidence that emotional valence of stimuli impacts lexical processes, there is limited work investigating its specific impact on lexical retrieval. The current study aimed to determine the degree to which emotional valence of pictured stimuli impacts naming latencies in healthy younger and older adults. Method: Eighteen…

Sleep Environment Risks for Younger and Older Infants

PubMed Central

Collie-Akers, Vicki; Schunn, Christy; Moon, Rachel Y.

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Sudden infant death syndrome and other sleep-related causes of infant mortality have several known risk factors. Less is known about the association of those risk factors at different times during infancy. Our objective was to determine any associations between risk factors for sleep-related deaths at different ages. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of sleep-related infant deaths from 24 states during 2004–2012 contained in the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths Case Reporting System, a database of death reports from state child death review teams. The main exposure was age, divided into younger (0–3 months) and older (4 months to 364 days) infants. The primary outcomes were bed-sharing, objects in the sleep environment, location (eg, adult bed), and position (eg, prone). RESULTS: A total of 8207 deaths were analyzed. Younger victims were more likely bed-sharing (73.8% vs 58.9%, P < .001) and sleeping in an adult bed/on a person (51.6% vs 43.8%, P < .001). A higher percentage of older victims had an object in the sleep environment (39.4% vs 33.5%, P < .001) and changed position from side/back to prone (18.4% vs 13.8%, P < .001). Multivariable regression confirmed these associations. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors for sleep-related infant deaths may be different for different age groups. The predominant risk factor for younger infants is bed-sharing, whereas rolling into objects in the sleep area is the predominant risk factor for older infants. Parents should be warned about the dangers of these specific risk factors appropriate to their infant’s age. PMID:25022735

Relationship of Genital Injuries and Age in Adolescent and Young Adult Rape Survivors

PubMed Central

Baker, Rachel B.; Sommers, Marilyn S.

2013-01-01

Objective To examine the associations between age and genital injuries in adolescent and young adult women examined following rape. Design & Setting A retrospective review of 234 medical records from an emergency department sexual assault program. Sample Women aged 14 to 29 years. Fifty percent of the sample was African American, 48% was White, and 2% was either Asian or an “other” race. Main Outcome Measures Genital injury was described by injury prevalence, frequency, and anatomical locations of injuries. Results Overall genital injury prevalence was 62.8%. Younger age was not significantly associated with the presence or absence of genital injury. However, younger age was significantly associated with an increased number of genital injuries overall and to the thighs, labia minora, periurethral area, fossa navicularis, and vagina. Conclusion These findings support the need for further research to determine if the current care provided to rape survivors is age appropriate. PMID:18507599

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Recommended Immunization Schedule for Adults Aged 19 Years or Older--United States, 2016.

PubMed

Kim, David K; Bridges, Carolyn B; Harriman, Kathleen H

2016-02-05

In October 2015, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)* approved the Recommended Immunization Schedule for Adults Aged 19 Years or Older, United States, 2016. This schedule provides a summary of ACIP recommendations for the use of vaccines routinely recommended for adults aged 19 years or older in two figures, footnotes for each vaccine, and a table that describes primary contraindications and precautions for commonly used vaccines for adults. Although the figures in the adult immunization schedule illustrate recommended vaccinations that begin at age 19 years, the footnotes contain information on vaccines that are recommended for adults that may begin at age younger than age 19 years. The footnotes also contain vaccine dosing, intervals between doses, and other important information and should be read with the figures.

Theory of mind and the Ultimatum Game in healthy adult aging.

PubMed

Girardi, Alessandra; Sala, Sergio Della; MacPherson, Sarah E

2018-01-01

The Ultimatum Game assesses decision-making involved in cooperative interactions with others. However, little is known about the role that the ability to understand other people's intentions plays in these interactions. This study examined performance on the Ultimatum Game and theory of mind (ToM) tasks in younger and older adults. Age differences were not found on the ToM tasks, and a lack of variability in performance prevented analyses of the relationships between performance on the Ultimatum Game and ToM. However, age differences were found on the Ultimatum Game, with older adults accepting more unfair offers. Yet, the two age groups did not differ in their appreciation of fairness, as assessed using subjective fairness ratings. These findings suggest that older adults are more rational in their behavior, accepting unfair offers even when they know they are unfair, as it is in their self-interest to accept small monetary values rather than nothing at all.

What is the impact of age on adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease?

PubMed Central

PRELIPCEAN, CRISTINA CIJEVSCHI; MIHAI, CĂTĂLINA; GOGALNICEANU, PETRUŢ; MIHAI, BOGDAN

2013-01-01

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease that affects both young adults and also the elderly. This article emphasises the particularities related to age in the epidemiology, diagnosis, natural course of the disease, prognosis and therapy of adult patients with IBD. Even though the main characteristics in geriatric populations with IBD may not differ much from those in younger patients, distinct problems exist. The majority of IBD studies were performed on young subjects, younger than 40 years of age. The optimal therapeutic choice in young individuals with IBD is a challenge for the physician who needs to take in account the risk of untreated or suboptimally treated chronic intestinal inflammation, long term prognosis, quality of life, the impact of side-effects of aggressive therapeutic approaches, the impact on pregnancy, as well as personal and healthcare costs. The diagnosis in elderly patients can be challenging due to the large number of conditions that mimic IBD. The treatment options are those used in younger patients, but a series of considerations related to potential pharmacological interactions and side effects of the drugs must be taken in account. The risks associated with the use of some IBD medications may be increased in older patients, but so is the risk of under-treated IBD and surgery. PMID:26527906

Differential behavioral and physiological effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation in healthy adults of younger and older age

PubMed Central

Heise, Kirstin-Friederike; Niehoff, Martina; Feldheim, J.-F.; Liuzzi, Gianpiero; Gerloff, Christian; Hummel, Friedhelm C.

2014-01-01

Changes in γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) mediated synaptic transmission have been associated with age-related motor and cognitive functional decline. Since anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) has been suggested to target cortical GABAergic inhibitory interneurons, its potential for the treatment of deficient inhibitory activity and functional decline is being increasingly discussed. Therefore, after-effects of a single session of atDCS on resting-state and event-related short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) as evaluated with double-pulse TMS and dexterous manual performance were examined using a sham-controlled cross-over design in a sample of older and younger participants. The atDCS effect on resting-state inhibition differed in direction, magnitude, and timing, i.e., late relative release of inhibition in the younger and early relative increase in inhibition in the older. More pronounced release of event-related inhibition after atDCS was exclusively seen in the older. Event-related modulation of inhibition prior to stimulation predicted the magnitude of atDCS-induced effects on resting-state inhibition. Specifically, older participants with high modulatory capacity showed a disinhibitory effect comparable to the younger. Beneficial effects on behavior were mainly seen in the older and in tasks requiring higher dexterity, no clear association with physiological changes was found. Differential effects of atDCS on SICI, discussed to reflect GABAergic inhibition at the level of the primary motor cortex, might be distinct in older and younger participants depending on the functional integrity of the underlying neural network. Older participants with preserved modulatory capacity, i.e., a physiologically “young” motor network, were more likely to show a disinhibitory effect of atDCS. These results favor individually tailored application of tDCS with respect to specific target groups. PMID:25071555

Typography manipulations can affect priming of word stem completion in older and younger adults.

PubMed

Gibson, J M; Brooks, J O; Friedman, L; Yesavage, J A

1993-12-01

The experiments reported here investigated whether changes of typography affected priming of word stem completion performance in older and younger adults. Across all experiments, the typeface in which a word appeared at presentation either did or did not match that of its 3-letter stem at test. In Experiment 1, no significant evidence of a typography effect was found when words were presented with a sentence judgment or letter judgment task. However, subsequent experiments revealed that, in both older and younger adults, only words presented with a syllable judgment task gave rise to the typography effect (Experiments 2-4). Specifically, performance was greater, when the presentation and test typeface matched than when they did not. Experiment 5, which used stem-cued recall, did not reveal a difference between syllable and letter judgment tasks. These findings highlight the complex nature of word stem completion performance.

Younger and Older Users’ Recognition of Virtual Agent Facial Expressions

PubMed Central

Beer, Jenay M.; Smarr, Cory-Ann; Fisk, Arthur D.; Rogers, Wendy A.

2015-01-01

As technology advances, robots and virtual agents will be introduced into the home and healthcare settings to assist individuals, both young and old, with everyday living tasks. Understanding how users recognize an agent’s social cues is therefore imperative, especially in social interactions. Facial expression, in particular, is one of the most common non-verbal cues used to display and communicate emotion in on-screen agents (Cassell, Sullivan, Prevost, & Churchill, 2000). Age is important to consider because age-related differences in emotion recognition of human facial expression have been supported (Ruffman et al., 2008), with older adults showing a deficit for recognition of negative facial expressions. Previous work has shown that younger adults can effectively recognize facial emotions displayed by agents (Bartneck & Reichenbach, 2005; Courgeon et al. 2009; 2011; Breazeal, 2003); however, little research has compared in-depth younger and older adults’ ability to label a virtual agent’s facial emotions, an import consideration because social agents will be required to interact with users of varying ages. If such age-related differences exist for recognition of virtual agent facial expressions, we aim to understand if those age-related differences are influenced by the intensity of the emotion, dynamic formation of emotion (i.e., a neutral expression developing into an expression of emotion through motion), or the type of virtual character differing by human-likeness. Study 1 investigated the relationship between age-related differences, the implication of dynamic formation of emotion, and the role of emotion intensity in emotion recognition of the facial expressions of a virtual agent (iCat). Study 2 examined age-related differences in recognition expressed by three types of virtual characters differing by human-likeness (non-humanoid iCat, synthetic human, and human). Study 2 also investigated the role of configural and featural processing as a

Exploration of Older and Younger British Adults' Performance on the Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burdon, Paul; Dipper, Lucy; Cocks, Naomi

2016-01-01

Background: Social perception is an important skill. One assessment that is commonly used to assess social perception abilities is The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT). The only normative data available for this test are for Australian younger adults. Despite no normative data being available for British adults, the test is widely used…

Switching of auditory attention in "cocktail-party" listening: ERP evidence of cueing effects in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Getzmann, Stephan; Jasny, Julian; Falkenstein, Michael

2017-02-01

Verbal communication in a "cocktail-party situation" is a major challenge for the auditory system. In particular, changes in target speaker usually result in declined speech perception. Here, we investigated whether speech cues indicating a subsequent change in target speaker reduce the costs of switching in younger and older adults. We employed event-related potential (ERP) measures and a speech perception task, in which sequences of short words were simultaneously presented by four speakers. Changes in target speaker were either unpredictable or semantically cued by a word within the target stream. Cued changes resulted in a less decreased performance than uncued changes in both age groups. The ERP analysis revealed shorter latencies in the change-related N400 and late positive complex (LPC) after cued changes, suggesting an acceleration in context updating and attention switching. Thus, both younger and older listeners used semantic cues to prepare changes in speaker setting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perceived barriers to physical activity in older and younger veterans with serious mental illness.

PubMed

Muralidharan, Anjana; Klingaman, Elizabeth A; Molinari, Victor; Goldberg, Richard W

2018-03-01

Individuals with serious mental illness endorse many more medical and psychosocial barriers to physical activity (PA) than the general population. However, it is unknown if older adults with serious mental illness are at greater risk of experiencing barriers to PA than their younger counterparts. The present study utilized a national VA dataset to compare veterans with serious mental illness ages 55 and older (n = 9,044) to veterans with serious mental illness ages 54 and younger (n = 8,782) on their responses to a questionnaire assessment of barriers to PA. Older veterans were more likely to endorse arthritis and cardiopulmonary disease, and less likely to endorse work schedule, as barriers to PA. Interventions designed to increase PA for young/middle-aged adults with serious mental illness may be broadly useful for older adults with serious mental illness, with some modification to address specific health concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

[Rheumatic cardiopathy in children younger than 6 years of age].